IAS Vijay Dahiya, 2001 batch Haryana cadre officer, who was arrested and suspended following graft charges, has been reinstated. He has recently been released on bail.
Dahiya was posted as commissioner Haryana Skill Development Corporation when anti corruption bureau had arrested him in a cash for bill scam.
The case:
The case is related to payment of a bill of Rs 50 lakh. One Rinku Manchanda had complained to ACB that one Poonam Chopra is asking for bribe of Rs 5 lakh to clear the bill from Vijay Dahiya and and Haryana Skill Development Mission's Chief Skills Officer (CSO) Deepak Sharma.
After the complaint, the ACB had arrested Poonam Chopra, while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 3 lakh on April 20. Apart from Poonam, the ACB had registered an FIR against Vijay Dahiya.
In his complaint, Manchanda stated: “As a training partner of Haryana Skill Development Mission, I had provided training to poor children for computer, AC technician and beauty parlour. For that I had to take a payment of nearly Rs 50 lakh from the department. For that payment I have been approaching the department for the past three years but nobody was listening to me.”
In the FIR, Manchanda further alleged: “CSO Deepak Sharma demanded Rs 5 lakh bribe to get the payment of my pending bills released. Then Deepak Sharma also told me that ‘if I want to get the payment of bills released early, then I should meet Poonam Chopra who is known to Vijay Dahiya and she will ensure the payment early'. I met Poonam Chopra in Panchkula and talked to her. She said that she would respond after speaking to Dahiya ji. After some time, Poonam Chopra told me that she had spoken to Vijay Dahiya. She said that ‘I have to give Rs 5 lakh as bribe for release of my bill payment and out of it 5 per cent would be her share'. I said yes, and have already given Rs 2 lakh to her. Poonam Chopra also sent the WhatsApp messages of Vijay Dahiya regarding clearance of files for payment. Poonam Chopra told me that ‘if I did not give Rs 3 lakh today (April 20), then she won't let clearance of the bills'.”
Also Read : IAS Vijay Dahiya caught in a bribery case, sent to judicial custody
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.