Allahabad High Court Quashes Vigilance Inquiry Against IAS Officer for Breach of Complaint Safeguards

The Allahabad High Court has set aside a vigilance inquiry against an IAS officer after finding that the State bypassed mandatory safeguards governing complaints against Group-A officers.

How the vigilance action began

The petitioner, a 2006-batch IAS officer then serving as Chief Executive Officer of Invest U.P., became the subject of action after a solar company representative complained that a private intermediary had demanded a stake in the project in exchange for facilitating clearance.

On the same day, authorities initiated multiple steps, including suspension, departmental proceedings and a vigilance inquiry.

Safeguards the State failed to follow

Government orders applicable to complaints against Group-A officers required the complaint to be supported by an affidavit. Separate administrative instructions required proposals for vigilance inquiries against gazetted officers to be placed before the State Vigilance Committee headed by the Chief Secretary.

The Court found that neither safeguard had been followed. It also noted that the complainant later stated that the original complaint had arisen from a misunderstanding about why the project proposal was deferred.

Result

Applying the principle that a structure falls when its foundation disappears, the High Court set aside the relevant orders and Open Vigilance Enquiry No. 64/2025. The judgment does not prevent lawful action on independently verified material, but the impugned proceedings could not stand on the defective complaint.