Days after Special Secretary (Vigilance) YVVJ Rajshekhar, who was tasked with probing the alleged corruption in Delhi CM Kejriwal’s residence renovation and was divested of his duties earlier this month wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi L-G office, and Delhi Anti Corruption Branch alleging a break-in at his office and tampering with the files, a CCTV footage has been accessed by TimesNow of the break-in.
In the CCTV footage, three suspects were seen coming out of Vigilance Secretary Rajshekhar’s cabin (room no. 403) with some files at around 2:07 am on the intervening night of 15th May and 16th May. The suspects took the files to the adjacent room (room no. 404) having photocopiers and paper shredders. Room number 404 also had a board that read ‘Entry prohibited, Confidential room’. It is notable that Rajshekhar was soon after asked to hand over the sensitive files to the Delhi government.
TIMES NOW accesses CCTV footage that show the 'proof of midnight break-in' into the vigilance secy's room, who was tasked to probe the Sheesh Mahal probe.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) May 25, 2023
On May 16 at 2:07 am, three suspects can be seen, picking up files…: @NavikaKumar shares the #exclusive details. pic.twitter.com/sqc1Sz79J9
YVVJ Rajshekhar’s letter
In his letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi L-G office, and Delhi Anti Corruption Branch after being shunted out, YVVJ Rajshekhar wrote that in the wee hours of the night, his office was broken into, and sensitive files related to the excise policy probe, renovation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence and those referred to central investigation agencies was photocopied. Room no. 403, Special Secretary (Vigilance) at Delhi Sectt, was broken into on the intervening night of 15th and 16th May at 3:00 AM. The letter also expressed apprehensions that his office might have been bugged.
“However, it is understood from a preliminary enquiry that Sh. Manish (MTS) has opened the room of the undersigned and allegedly photocopied all the records i.e. from the 15th May 2023 night to the 16th May 2023 til 3:00 AM. The undersigned is not sure whether any record/file was taken away or otherwise tampered with it or photocopied. It is a serious lapse in the present scenario”, the letter stated.
Delhi L-G reinstates YVVJ Rajshekhar to his position
On Monday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena reinstated Rajshekhar on the basis of the Central government’s ordinance revising the Supreme Court order giving the power to post, transfer and appoint officers to the Delhi Government. It is notable that the Centre has brought an ordinance notifying rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) which restored some of the power back to the central government as well.
However, Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj in a memorandum on Tuesday called the Vigilance Secretary’s reinstatement as “unauthorized and illegal” as he asserted that he is the competent authority for work allocation.
Even though the AAP government continues to label Rajshekhar as an “illegal occupant” of the position, Rajshekhar met with vigilance officers on Wednesday and asked them to compile an inventory of records to verify they had not been tampered with while he was absent.
Cases that YVVJ Rajasekhar was probing against the AAP government
It is notable that YVVJ Rajasekhar is also probing several other cases, including excise department chargesheets and their sanctions under various provisions of the POC (Prevention of Corruption) Act, FBU case pertaining to the setting up of a separate intelligence unit, allegations of overspending on political advertisements, and charges of favourable treatment to AAP workers in hiring venues for Mohalla Clinics. He was also probing the liquor scam and Arvind Kejriwal spending taxpayers’ money on building his palatial mansion.
