Chandigarh: Senior IAS officer and former secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), Pardeep Kumar, on Friday moved a special CBI court in Panchkula seeking anticipatory bail in the Rs 593-crore IDFC First Bank–AU Small Finance Bank fraud case, as investigations into the alleged diversion of govt funds intensify.Special CBI judge Vijayant Sehgal issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Kumar’s plea and posted the matter for hearing on July 2. The court also directed the agency to furnish details regarding the status of bail proceedings involving the applicant and other accused in the case.Acting as duty judge during the summer vacation, the court further instructed its registry to verify through the Punjab and Haryana high court’s official website whether any bail applications related to the accused persons named in the FIR are pending or have already been decided by the high court or Supreme Court. The CBI’s special public prosecutor has been asked to submit a status report along with the agency’s response on the next date of hearing.Kumar approached the court as the CBI stepped up its probe into the alleged multi-crore fraud involving diversion of funds from multiple bank accounts. The agency has already arrested two senior IAS officers and has reportedly secured sanction to prosecute seven IAS officers whose names have surfaced during the investigation.Sources associated with the probe indicated that investigators suspect certain public servants may have acted in connivance with the main accused and allegedly derived undue benefits. However, the CBI has not publicly detailed specific allegations against individual officers, and the investigation remains ongoing.Over the past week, CBI teams have conducted multiple raids and arrests across the Chandigarh-Panchkula-Mohali region to track down individuals linked to the alleged fraud.The latest arrest is that of Saurav Sharma, a senior official in the accounts section of the HSPCB, who is currently in CBI custody till Sunday. Sources said leads emerging during his custodial interrogation have brought Kumar under the agency’s scanner, prompting the senior bureaucrat to seek pre-arrest protection.The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent diversion of about Rs 593 crore from accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank. The CBI has arrested several accused, including government officials and private individuals, while probing an alleged conspiracy involving manipulation of official records, unauthorised fund transfers and abuse of official position. The agency has said the investigation is ongoing and further arrests cannot be ruled out.
