32 years after FIR, ex-IAS gets 5-yr jail for possessing weapons

A former IAS officer has been convicted by a special CBI court 32 years after being booked by the agency in a case of recovery of arms and ammunition from his possession.

Surender Singh Ahluwalia, 81, has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1.50 lakh in the case by Rouse Avenue court "after prolonged trial", officials said on Friday.

The CBI had filed a case on August 31, 1987 against Ahluwalia, then posted as Secretary and Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Nagaland, for the possession of arms and ammunition beyond permission limits.

Five guns including a carbine and a Czechoslovakian rifle besides 328 bullets were recovered from his homes in Delhi and Kohima during a search carried out by the agency in connection with a case of disproportionate assets against him.

The agency completed its probe within five years and filed a charge sheet on April 10, 1992 but the case dragged on in various courts, officials said.

It took nearly 18 years for charges to be framed against Ahluwalia on February 10, 2010 by a special court, they said.

"The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Rouse Avenue, District Court Complex, New Delhi has sentenced S S Ahluwalia, IAS (Retd.)...to undergo five years Rigorous Imprisonment with total fine of Rs 1.50 lakh," CBI's spokesperson said here.

Ahluwalia joined the army on May 3, 1964 as an Emergency Commission officer as a Captain.

He joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1971 and was allocated Nagaland cadre.

Ahluwalia came under probe for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets which including air-conditioned cinema house, property in posh areas of Delhi, Gwalior and Chandigarh.

The CBI had filed a separate case in the recovery of weapons, the officials said.