3 min readBhopalDec 12, 2025 06:26 PM IST
First published on: Dec 12, 2025 at 06:25 PM IST
Madhya Pradesh has moved to strip IAS officer Santosh Verma of his position after an internal inquiry found that his elevation from the State Administrative Service to the Indian Administrative Service was allegedly based on forged documents. The action, ordered by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, comes days after Verma triggered a political storm with remarks about Brahmin women and the judiciary at a public event.
Officials in the General Administration Department claimed their investigation established that a fabricated promotion order had been prepared to secure Verma’s entry into the IAS despite criminal cases relating to the alleged forgery pending in multiple courts. Based on these findings, the state government concluded that Verma’s promotion was invalid and is preparing to recommend his dismissal from the IAS cadre to the central government.
Officials further said that a departmental inquiry regarding the allegation that Verma obtained an integrity certificate based on forged and fabricated documents is at its final stage.
“His reply to the show-cause notice in the present matter has been found unsatisfactory. He continues to make statements lacking in decorum. Hence, it has been decided to issue a chargesheet against him,” the official said.
Verma, who heads the Madhya Pradesh Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Officers and Employees Association (which goes by the acronym AJJAKS), has also been removed from his post as Deputy Secretary in the Agriculture Department and placed in the General Administration Department (GAD) pool without any assignment.
Senior officials said his response to a show-cause notice was “unsatisfactory” and that he continued to make provocative remarks despite warnings, prompting the decision to serve him a formal chargesheet.
The administrative action follows protests over Verma’s comments at an AJJAKS conference, where he accused the Madhya Pradesh High Court of preventing Scheduled Tribe candidates from becoming civil judges and claimed recruitment processes were engineered to keep SC and ST applicants out. An earlier remark, asserting that reservation should continue “until a Brahmin gives his daughter to our son”, had already drawn sharp reactions from Brahmin and upper-caste groups.
The backlash has since grown into an organised agitation, with the Brahmin Samaj United Front announcing a protest march to the Chief Minister’s residence on December 14. Organisers say preparations will begin a day earlier with a gathering at Vallabh Bhavan and the sounding of conch shells at the Maharana Pratap statue.
Verma has denied wrongdoing and alleged that the controversy was being used to undermine him in internal power struggles within the AJJAKS.
Officials further said that a departmental inquiry regarding the allegation that Verma obtained an integrity certificate based on forged and fabricated documents is at its final stage.
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