Over a year after closing a probe against him, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a chargesheet on Saturday against senior IAS officer Lalit Varma for allegedly fudging his date of birth. It also ordered an in-house enquiry to nail officers who filed a closure report and did not go ahead with Varma's prosecution.
During the probe, which was re-opened by the CBI after its closure report filed in January 2005 was not accepted by a court, the agency found enough evidence was available to go ahead with the prosecution, official sources said.
A 1984 batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Varma is currently a commissioner at Allahabad.
The sources said the probe had brought to light alleged lapses on the part of a former CBI officer who is currently an inspector general in his parent cadre in Kerala. This officer was the deputy inspector general and supervisory officer in the Varma case.
The officer had then made a written submission to the CBI director that the agency should only recommend a regular departmental action and not go for prosecution despite an opinion by the then CBI additional director for going ahead with legal proceedings.
The CBI had been severely criticised for its shoddy investigation of the case not only by the court but also by the Department of Personnel and Training, which was the complainant in the case.
Varma, who has been accused of forgery and cheating, allegedly fudged his date of birth certificate by lowering his age by nearly 35 months and made a false representation to the DoPT.
