Corruption
Legal Trouble for These 3 IAS Officers: Yasha Mudgal, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, and Niraj Kumar Under Scrutiny
Jammu: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed Jammu & Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to resubmit prosecution proposals against three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in connection with the arms licence scam.
In a letter dated February 21, 2025, the MHA asked the Chief Secretary to provide a complete proposal for prosecution sanction against Yasha Mudgal (IAS AGMUT: 2007), Shahid Iqbal Choudhary (IAS AGMUT: 2009), and Niraj Kumar (IAS AGMUT: 2010) along with relevant documents within a week.
Missing Documents Delay Prosecution Approval
The MHA letter identified several missing enclosures, including:
- DVDs with authenticated FIR copies
- Statements of witnesses and accused
- Investigation reports
- Legal opinion from the J&K Law Department
- CBI’s letter dated July 23, 2024 and related documents
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The letter followed an earlier MHA directive on February 12, 2025, instructing the J&K administration to forward CBI’s prosecution proposals for two additional IAS officers—M Raju (AGMUT: 2005, former DM Kargil) and Prasanna Ramaswamy G (AGMUT: 2010, former DM Leh)—after obtaining administrative approval from the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
MHA Submits Status Report to High Court
The MHA disclosed its status report before the High Court of J&K and Ladakh in the case of Sheikh Mohd Shafi and Another vs. Union of India & Others, in compliance with a January 2, 2025, court order. According to the report, the J&K administration had submitted four letters dated December 27, 2024, recommending prosecution sanctions for five IAS officers for allegedly issuing fraudulent gun licences in violation of norms, in exchange for financial benefits. However, MHA stated that the J&K government’s response is still awaited.
GAD’s Pending Review and Next Court Hearing
The General Administration Department (GAD) of J&K, in its December 27, 2024 status report, informed the High Court’s Division Bench that the J&K government had submitted its views on the case of Mudgal, Choudhary, and Kumar to the MHA for a final decision. Meanwhile, GAD was still compiling inputs on IAS officer P K Pole, while jurisdictional aspects were being examined for Prasanna Ramaswamy G, as the alleged violations occurred in Ladakh’s jurisdiction.
Additionally, GAD mentioned that the cases of IAS officers Jitendra Kumar Singh, Ramesh Kumar, and Prasanna Ramaswamy G (former DMs of Kathua) were under active examination.
Next Court Hearing on March 20
The CBI was assigned this case in 2017 by then Governor N N Vohra. According to CBI investigations, between 2012 and 2016, approximately 1.53 lakh arms licences were issued in Jammu division, and around 1.21 lakh in Kashmir division.
The case remains under investigation, with the next hearing scheduled for March 20, 2025.