Uttar Pradesh government removed its Principal Secretary to CM, Rakesh Bahadur (IAS 1979;UP cadre) and Industrial Development Commissioner, Sanjiv Saran (IAS 1983;UP cadre) and placed them under compulsory waiting on Saturday. It is interesting to note that, Mr. Bahadur was elevated to the top position as recently as July 2014.
The IAS officers (then, Rakesh Bahadur as chairman and Sanjeev Sharan as CEO at the Noida authority) were suspended and chargesheeted when Ms. Mayawati came to power in 2009, for allotting 14 plots in Noida to hoteliers at throwaway prices since 2001, causing an estimated loss of over Rs.4,700 crore to the state. Akhilesh Yadav on becoming the Chief Minister in March 2012 appointed the two tainted officers to the same posts occupied by them during Mulayam Singh’s period. The duo was subsequently removed from the post after Allahabad High Court order in November 2012 which also ordered a CBI probe into land allotments by the two and embarrassed the SP government further by ordering the state government not to post the two officers anywhere in western-UP.