FIR against complainant who alleged officer in UP CM’s secretariat asked for ₹25 lakh bribe

Coming soon after complaints by BJP law makers accusing the Yogi Adityanath Government of corruption, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has written a letter to CM Yogi to “take appropriate” action against charges of corruption levelled against SP Goyal, Principal Secretary in the CM’s Secretariat, who has been charged with demanding a bribe of ₹25 lakh from a Lucknow-based businessman.

The governor's letter said that the charges of demanding a bribe of ₹25 lakh sought by the official from a person in Hardoi district to allot him some land for a petrol pump should be probed.

Uttar Pradesh Police lodged an FIR against the complainant businessman Abhishek Kumar Gupta in Lucknow at night on June 7. He has now been picked up for questioning. This has created a political furore, with not only Samajwadi Party but even BJP leaders saying action should be taken against the senior IAS officer. BJP spokesman IP Singh wrote three tweets on Thursday alleging that Goyal was a conduit during Mayawati’s ‘corruption raj’. “If Yogi Government is failing today, it is because of this corrupt officer called SP Goyal,” said Singh in his first tweet.

Singh even said that Goyal was involved in NRHM scam and was instrumental in destroying evidences against the murder of CMOs “Land scam of ₹10,000 crore took place during Mayawati’s regime and 21 sugar mills were sold off in throw away prices. Then also Goyal took commission. In Yogi raj he (Goyal) is implementing BSP’s agenda,” Singh alleged in his third tweet.

The background to the incident is that Abhishek Kumar Gupta wanted to set up a petrol pump in Hardoi. He got the licence and when construction started, he needed some extra land. The District Magistrate approved that land adjacent to the petrol pump could be given to Gupta, but as that land belonged to Gram Samaj, he needed clearance from the state government. Gupta says that when he met Goyal with this request he was asked for a bribe of ₹25 lakh. Initially, he tried to sort it out through local leaders but when he failed, he sent a memorandum to the Governor, following which Ram Naik wrote a letter to Chief Minister.

The letter from Governor Ram Naik to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath can be seen below:

Incidentally, the Governor’s letter was written on April 30 and it took almost a month for the Yogi Government to order a probe. Though it is not clear what kind of probe has been ordered, Information Advisor to the CM Mrityunjay Kumar said that allegations against Goyal were false and he will be proved innocent in the enquiry.

Meanwhile, a local BJP leader has lodged an FIR against the complainant Gupta for defaming Yogi government.

However, Congress has demanded a judicial probe into the matter. “The Governor has asked CM to take action and order probe. The state government is bound to honour that. The probe should be such which cannot be influenced by Yogi administration. So, the Congress demands judicial probe into the matter,” Congress spokesman and former lawmaker Akhilesh Pratap Singh said.

This is not the first time corruption charges have been levelled against the Yogi government. Last week, even BJP lawmakers had accused the Yogi government of corruption.