All you need to know about Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar

According to the FIR, Kumar promoted Endeavour System Pvt Ltd by allegedly misusing his official position

Kejriwal's principal secy arrested in graft case
BS Web Team New Delhi
Last Updated : Jul 05 2016 | 10:10 AM IST
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and four others in a corruption case.

Kumar has been under the investigation agency's lens since last year. The CBI had raided his office in December last year, an incident which had evoked a sharp reaction from Kejriwal.

Reacting to the raid, Kejriwal had gone as far as calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "psychopath" and "coward".

Subsequent to the raid on his Delhi Secretariat office, Kumar was questioned by the CBI for about seven hours.

Who is he

Kumar is a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories cadre. 

Like Kejriwal, Kumar, who served as the higher education secretary prior to becoming the former's principal secretary, is an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur.

According to a report in The Hindu, Kumar is considered a close confidant of Kejriwal.

He was also appointed as principal secretary during the first Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi in late 2013, which was in power for only 49 days. 

Kumar had previously served as secretary in the urban development department and worked with the power and transport departments during the Sheila Dikshit government in the capital, according to a report by India Today.     

The report added that Kumar had also served as the chairman-cum-managing director in Delhi Transco Limited. He has also previously served as the secretary-cum-commissioner of the Delhi Transport Authority. 

Kumar, the report said, was also the recipient of the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration in 2007. 

What has he been arrested for

According to the first information report, Kumar promoted a company, Endeavour System Pvt Ltd from 2007, by allegedly misusing his official position and facilitated tenders worth Rs 9.5 crore to it.

Kumar has been booked under 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and 13(2), 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct etc) for allegedly favouring Endeavour System Pvt Ltd in five contracts during 2007-14.

"The allegations against Kumar were raised by Ashish Joshi, former member secretary, Delhi Dialogue Commission," the CBI had said following the December raids.
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First Published: Jul 05 2016 | 9:26 AM IST

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