NOIDA, July 3: The present Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary is among the four senior IAS officers of the state facing corruption charges, according to a confidential note submitted to Governor Romesh Bhandari by former chief secretary Mata Prasad.

These officers have been accused of committing many irregularities in the allotment of land in the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) area, near New Delhi.

The note was reportedly attached to a file pertaining to corruption charges against Neera Yadav, a former Noida chairperson who has been charged with committing many irregularities during her tenure. A judicial commission is currently probing the charges against her.

Bhandari had reportedly asked Prasad to get explanations from five IAS officers regarding charges against them. Surprisingly, in the note presented by the former chief secretary, there is no mention of the fifth person, who is allegedly Akhand Pratap Singh.

Prasad's note, written on October 10, 1996, says: ``The state Governor knows that there are corruption charges against Brijendra Sahay, Sushil Chandra Tripathi, Ravi Mathur and P K Mishra (senior IAS officers of the Uttar Pradesh cadre), which are much serious than those against Neera.''

The note claims that Neera had submitted a clarification on the charges against her ``long back'' and the then secretary (appointment) had been of the opinion that ``no further action should be taken against her''. But senior IAS officers allege that Neera was spared because she belongs to the Prasad lobby in the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy. Not only that, she is accused of allotting a plot out of turn to Prasad's son Ajay Kumar, after the expiry date of a scheme, during her tenure as chairperson of Noida.

Prasad's note also states that the four officers had not submitted their clarifications to the charges despite being asked to do so. ``If at all they have clarified the charges, it has not been done to the administration department or the Cadre Controlling Authority,'' he wrote.

The former chief secretary further noted: ``I regret the delay in putting this file but a number of complaints have been received in the meantime regarding corruption in Noida. It appears that there is rampant corruption and the officers concerned keep complaining against each other.''

However, the note does not specify the charges against the four senior IAS officers, nor when these came to light. Moreover, Prasad is silent on what the ``complaints of rampant corruption in Noida'' were.

Sources said the officers had not submitted their ``clarifications'' because they felt that Prasad, who belongs to a rival lobby, was prejudiced against them. Incidentally, two of the officers, Mathur and Sahay, later did give their ``clarifications'', but after Prasad was transferred. The third officer, Tripathi, preferred to approach Bhandari directly, as he was the secretary to the Governor then. Only Mishra submitted his side of the story on time.

Tripathi, it is learnt, also told Bhandari that these charges were motivated and that Neera and her husband Mahendra Singh Yadav (IPS officer and at present the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Bulandshahar) had persuaded Ajamgarh MP Bali Ram to make a complaint against them.

Bali Ram, however, when contacted, denied this, saying: ``I had taken the step in the interest of the public.'' He also claimed that though Bhandari had assured him of a probe, he had not received any response. ``I also sent him a reminder in this regard about one-and-a-half months ago,'' he said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.