Charged with possessing disproportionate assets worth several hundred crores, Uttar Pradesh former chief secretary Akhand Pratap Singh today approached the Allahabad High Court for quashing the FIR registered against him by the CBI. Voted the ‘‘most corrupt officer’’ by the UP IAS association, Singh in his petition claimed that the CBI has included his paternal assets, as well as properties not owned by him or his family, in the FIR. He pointed to four inquiries in the past, including one by the Vigilance Department and another by the Chairman of Board of Revenue, that have certified him innocent.Listing a dozen prominent names, the former chief secretary said that the CBI has shown the properties of these persons as his in the FIR.The FIR, filed on March 21, lists 41 immovable properties — including houses, farmhouses and plots — allegedly owned by Singh and his close family members in three states. The CBI had carried out raids on these premises on March 21-22 in Lucknow, Nainital, Bahraich, New Delhi, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon. Singh was also interrogated for almost 24 hours in his New Delhi farmhouse but was let off. CBI Director U.S. Mishra said the agency had not arrested Singh, as he ‘‘had been co-operating with the investigating agency and was not likely to flee the country.’’In his petition, Singh said the land worth crores in Bahraich was purchased by his father in 1965, that was before he joined the IAS in 1967. The seven houses in Lucknow, which have been shown as his, were in fact taken on rent from top IAS officials, he added.The CBI has said that Singh, who held several sensitive government posts, had amassed his wealth through dubious means. ‘‘ He is disclosed to be having a large number of properties in his own name and in the names of his family members and others, apart from a benami fleet of vehicles. Singh is disclosed to have been leading an extravagant lifestyle and spent enormous sums on the education and marriage of his two daughters. He is also suspected to have stashed his ill-gotten earnings in overseas bank accounts and has made several private trips abroad,’’ the FIR read.
