The senior Haryana IAS officer, Vijay Dahiya (IAS:2001:HY), receives major relief from the Haryana government, which has declined to sanction the investigating agency to prosecute him in a corruption case. This refusal prevents the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from initiating trial proceedings against Dahiya by filing a chargesheet or challan, necessary to start prosecution in a court of law.
Dahiya had been arrested by the ACB on October 10, 2023, in connection with a corruption case and put behind bars for 49 days before being granted bail on November 28, 2023.
Dahiya, along with his 2001 batchmates, has just a few days back been promoted to the higher administrative grade (Level 15 in the pay matrix) as principal secretary.
The controversy started on April 20, 2023, when the ACB filed an FIR naming three persons—Dahiya, who was serving as administrative secretary of the Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Department, along with Deepak Sharma, the Chief Skills Officer (a contractual appointee) in the Haryana Skill Development Mission, and a private individual, Poonam Chopra.
According to ACB officials, the agency completed its investigation and sought sanction to prosecute Dahiya in July 2024, followed by two reminders in January and August 2025, but it was declined by the state govt on the grounds that the investigation failed to establish any exchange of graft money between the IAS officer and the other accused as well as the complainant, Rinku Manchanda.
The state government had objected to the ACB not obtaining prior approval of the government under Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act before registering the FIR against Dahiya.
One Rinku Manchanda, a resident of Fatehabad who ran an educational institution, Gramin Shiksha, under the Haryana Skill Development Mission, had alleged that the skill development department owed about ₹50 lakh to him, but when he asked for the clearance of the dues, he was allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹5 lakh for processing the payment by Deepak Sharma, then posted as the chief skills officer.
According to the FIR, the complainant was directed to Poonam Chopra, a Delhi resident, claiming to be an acquaintance of Dahiya. Dahiya, who was serving as the administrative secretary of the department, is said to have facilitated early clearance of the bills. Chopra later reiterated the demand of ₹5 lakh as illegal gratification for clearing the bills, with a separate 5% commission for herself.
The complainant agreed to the demand and allegedly paid ₹2 lakh to Chopra as part payment. According to the complaint, Chopra demanded the rest of the graft money, ₹3 lakh, on April 20, 2023. The ACB then laid a trap and arrested her, leading to the controversy.
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