Former IAS officer convicted for graft

CHANDIGARH - A special court Thursday convicted a former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Bikramjit Singh for possessing assets disproportionate to his income.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Darshan Singh held Singh, who served as principal secretary to Parkash Singh Badal when he was chief minister in 1997, guilty under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The quantum of sentence will be announced Saturday.

His lawyer S.P.S. Bhullar said they would approach Punjab and Haryana High Court against the verdict.

According to CBI officials, Singh was accused of amassing over Rs. 24 lakh in excess of his known sources of income.

A 1973-batch officer of the Punjab cadre, Singh was appointed as principal secretary to Badal Feb 12, 1997. A case was registered against him by the CBI Feb 25 following an anonymous complaint and raids were conducted on his house and two shop-cum-office properties he owned.

A charge sheet was filed against him in January 2002, accusing him of having luxurious cars, various bank accounts and many agricultural and commercial properties in Chandigarh and Punjab.

Singh was promoted to the level of chief secretary in 2006, during the tenure of the Congress government, but was never given actual charge. Before joining the IAS, Singh had taken early retirement from the Indian Army when he was a captain.