Senior Haryana Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Pankaj Agarwal, who has now been arrested in connection with the multi-crore IDFC First Bank fraud case, had come under the Opposition Congress’s scanner soon after the Rajya Sabha elections earlier this year.
In March, senior Congress leaders, including Bhupinder Singh Hooda, questioned his role in the polls, describing it as “dubious”, and even submitted a representation against him to the Governor. Agarwal, however, had maintained that he acted strictly in accordance with the Election Commission’s rules and instructions.
Notably, Agarwal had also served in key positions during the Congress regime. He was Deputy Commissioner of Kurukshetra from 2007 to 2011 and Deputy Commissioner of Sonipat from 2011 to 2013 during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government.
In April this year, after the names of several senior officers surfaced in the IDFC First Bank scam, they were shifted from important assignments and posted to relatively insignificant departments. A 2000-batch IAS officer, Agarwal, who had been handling major portfolios such as irrigation and mines, was transferred to the architecture department. At the time of his arrest, he was serving as Principal Secretary, Architecture Department.
The Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government in May this year granted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) permission to investigate the alleged role of several senior IAS officers, including Pankaj Agarwal, in the Rs 590-crore IDFC First Bank fraud case. The approval was granted under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
Pankaj Agarwal’s rise
Agarwal, 51, hails from Dhanbad in Jharkhand. He began his administrative career in 2000 as Assistant Commissioner (UT) at HIPA, Gurgaon. During his service, he held several important positions in both Congress and BJP governments. Besides serving as Deputy Commissioner in Kurukshetra and Sonipat, he also held key assignments under the BJP government, including Labour Commissioner, Transport Commissioner, and Director General, Food and Civil Supplies.
Ahead of the October 2024 Haryana Assembly elections, Agarwal was appointed Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana, a position he held for nearly a year. Subsequently, he handled several significant departments, including School Education, Agriculture, Mines and Irrigation, before being moved to the architecture department in April this year.
In bureaucratic circles, Agarwal has generally been regarded as a low-profile officer. However, his role as Returning Officer during the Rajya Sabha elections for two Haryana seats in March this year drew sharp criticism from the Congress.
In that election, BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia secured a comfortable victory, while Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh won the second seat by a narrow margin, defeating BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal.
Following the polls, a delegation of senior Congress leaders led by Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda met Governor Prof Ashim Kumar Ghosh and sought disciplinary action against Agarwal.
Congress’s allegations
In its memorandum to the Governor, the Congress alleged, “More shameful and painful was the notorious shrewdness and arbitrariness in the conduct of the Returning Officer, which supplemented the nefarious manipulations and machinations of the ruling party. The IAS officer Sh. Pankaj Aggarwal behaved as an agent of the BJP/Independent candidate in a manner unbecoming of a constitutional authority.”
The party further charged, “He deliberately and illegally rejected the Congress MLAs’ votes, accepted and allowed the invalid votes in favour of BJP and the Independent candidates. He even attempted to tamper with the counting process and procedure to influence the election outcome in favour of the Independent candidate. He contemptuously ignored and rejected all valid objections/complaints made by the Congress polling agents.”
Congress leaders also stated that they lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India regarding his alleged misconduct.
The BJP government, however, strongly defended the election process. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had maintained that the Rajya Sabha election was conducted in accordance with democratic procedures and that BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia had emerged victorious through a fair process.
CM Saini hits back
Responding to the Congress protests, Saini said, “The protests being carried out by Congress reflect its internal condition, and it is unclear what is happening within the party.” Taking a swipe at the opposition, he remarked that “for the first time in the state, the party’s top leadership was seen acting as polling agents”.
He further stated, “The Congress leadership no longer has trust in its own members and has also lost the confidence of the people. Even those who were working honestly in the party are now losing faith.”
The Chief Minister had also asserted that “contesting elections as an independent candidate is a democratic right and cannot be restricted.” Accusing the Congress of undermining democratic values, he said contradictions were clearly visible in the statements and conduct of its leaders.
Now, the agency has arrested Agarwal in connection with the alleged misappropriation of government funds from accounts of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP) and the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), maintained at the Sector 32 branch of IDFC First Bank in Chandigarh.
Senior Haryana IAS Senior IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal has been arrested in the Rs 590-crore IDFC First Bank fraud case (File photos), 
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