Personal secretaries of three UP ministers arrested for seeking bribes
Lucknow, Jan 6 : A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested the personal secretaries of state ministers Archana Tripathi, Sandeep Singh and Om Prakash Rajbhar on charges of corruption and bribery.
"On getting sufficient evidence against the secretariat staff members, they have been arrested and sent to jail. The chief minister has a zero-tolerance towards corruption," the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement late on Saturday night.
On December 28, the three were suspended on graft charges following a sting operation by a news channel.
They were suspended on orders of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who also directed officials to register a police case against them, a state government release said.
In accordance with Adityanath's direction, the matter will be probed by SIT and it will submit its report within 10 days after taking statements of all parties in the case, it said.
The SIT will be led by Additional Director General of Police, Lucknow Zone, Rajiv Krishna.
A sting operation was conducted by a TV channel purportedly showing three personal secretaries of ministers allegedly seeking bribes in return for favours such as transfers and issuing contracts.
In the sting operation, Om Prakash Kashyap, personal secretary of Backward Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar is purportedly seen asking for Rs 40 lakh for a transfer.
Rajbhar, who is a minister from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), said he had removed his personal secretary and written to the chief minister to take stern action against him.
In the same sting operation, personal secretary of Minister of State for Mining Archana Pandey was shown allegedly striking a deal with the channel's reporter for getting him mining contracts in about six districts.
Santosh Awasthi, personal secretary to MoS Basic Education Sandeep Singh, is also seen in the sting operation allegedly working out a deal for a contract for books and seeking his own cut.
Singh is the grandson of former UP chief minister and present Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh.
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SC directs states, UTs to furnish updated details on prisons, including overcrowding
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has directed all the states and Union territories to furnish updated details relating to jails, including the sanctioned capacity of each prison and steps taken to check overcrowding, by May 18.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also asked the states and UTs to provide details about the number of women’s prisons within their jurisdictions and the facilities available in them, including the measures taken to ensure education and overall welfare of children living with the female inmates.
The bench noted that senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in a suo motu matter concerning inhuman conditions in jails, has drawn its attention to the fact that the statistics placed on record by the states and UTs pertain to 2023.
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The bench said that, having regard to the nature of issues involved and the necessity of an informed adjudicatory exercise, the availability of updated contemporaneous data was indispensable for the effective consideration of the proceedings.
“Accordingly, we deem it appropriate to direct all the states and Union territories to place on record updated and comprehensive statistics relating to all prisons situated within their respective jurisdictions,” the bench said in its order passed on March 17.
It said the data shall include jail-wise capacity of each prison, total number of prisoners, percentage of overcrowding in each jail, steps proposed to address overcrowding, details of women’s jails, facilities provided to women prisoners and children accompanying them (including educational and medical facilities), sanctioned strength of prison staff, existing vacancies, steps taken to fill them, along with all ancillary aspects relating to prison administration.
The bench directed the states and UTs to furnish complete particulars indicating the sanctioned capacity of each prison and the total number of prisoners lodged as on March 1, 2026, along with jail-wise details reflecting the extent of occupancy.
The apex court said the states and UTs would file comprehensive affidavits, duly sworn by the home secretary, providing the requisite details by May 18.
It said the top court registry would forward copies of the affidavits received from the states and UTs to the amicus, who would prepare a comprehensive note detailing the statistics and information provided by them.
It posted the matter for hearing on May 26.
