Chaurasia Rs 50cr DA Case: Chargesheet Filed

Raipur, Oct 14 (PTI) Chhattisgarh police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet in a court against bureaucrat Saumya Chaurasia in a disproportionate assets case and alleged she illegally earned around Rs 50 crore during CMO stint and made benami investments.
The 2008-batch State Administrative Service (SAS) officer served as a deputy secretary in Chief Minister's Office (CMO) when Congress CM Bhupesh Baghel headed the party-led government from 2018 to 2023 in Chhattisgarh.
She is accused of amassing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income and the amount involved in the case makes it the highest ever in the EOW history in Chhattisgarh, which came into existence in November 2000, according to the probe agency.
The disproportionate assets (DA) case against Chaurasia was filed in July 2024, an EOW statement said, months after the BJP came to power in the state following its victory in the November-December 2023 assembly polls.
The 8,000-page chargesheet in the DA case was filed before a special court in Raipur against Chaurasia, whose name also figures in coal levy 'scam', District Mineral Fund (DMF) and other criminal cases dating back to the Congress rule, it added.
"According to the chargesheet, Chaurasia has been found to have made benami investments in approximately 45 immovable properties in the name of her family members and other individuals. It has been proved in the EOW investigation that Chaurasia illegally earned approximately Rs 49,69,48,298 while posted as deputy secretary in the CMO," the statement said.
Notably, benami property refers to assets held by one person but financed by another.
Chaurasia was first posted as deputy collector in Bilaspur district and prior to this, she served as an accounts officer in 2005. In 2019, she was posted as deputy secretary in the CMO, it added.
"During her 17 years of service, the legitimate income of Chaurasia and her family was found to be approximately Rs 2,51,89,175, while she was found to have invested illegal income of approximately Rs 50 crore in various properties," the EOW statement said.
Thus, the State Administrative Service officer has earned 1872.86 per cent more illegal income during her entire service period, it added.
This was the biggest case of DA in the history (in terms of amount) of the state EOW so far, the statement said.
The EOW investigation revealed that the maximum investment of illegal money in properties by Chaurasia was made between years 2019 and 2022, it added.
Last month, the EOW attached 16 properties worth Rs 8 crore belonging to Chaurasia in the DA case.