Chandigarh, Sept. 19 -- The Haryana government has declined to grant prior approval under Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act to investigate the role of four IAS officers with regards to multiple first information reports (FIRs) registered by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SVACB) at Faridabad. The matter pertained to alleged irregularities in the award of contracts to a private contractor for undertaking civil works including laying of interlocking tiles, construction of culverts, repair of drains and installation of iron grills by the Faridabad municipal corporation in 2018 and 2019. As per Section 17-A of the PC Act, prior approval of the state government is required for conducting an investigation or inquiry into an offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Act pertaining to the decisions taken in discharge of official duties. The ACB had registered five FIRs, four in 2022 and one in 2023, naming municipal corporation officials including engineers and a contractor, Satbir Singh. They were booked under provisions of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, forgery of valuable security, forgery for purpose of cheating, using as genuine a forged document, criminal breach of trust by public, causing disappearance of evidence of offence and criminal misconduct by a public servant. The four IAS officers, Yash Garg, Sonal Goel, Mohammad Shayin and Anita Yadav for whom the ACB had sought prior approval of the state government under Section 17-A of the PC Act for investigating their roles were posted as commissioners of Faridabad municipal corporation at some point of time when the alleged irregularities took place in 2018 and 2019. Sonal Goel is a Tripura cadre IAS officer who was on inter-cadre deputation to Haryana then. Officials said that chief minister Nayab Singh Saini last week declined permission to investigate the four IAS officers after a detailed examination of the record was done by the vigilance department. The refusal was formally communicated by the state government to the anti-corruption bureau on September 16. "I am directed to refer to your memos number 17918 .. and 6622 of April 17, 2025 and to say that the government has considered the matter at length and it has been decided to decline the proposal of State Vigilance & Anti-Corruption Bureau for granting prior permission under Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 to investigate the role of the IAS officers in connection with the FIRs registered in the Faridabad municipal corporation scam,'' said the Sept 16 communication by the vigilance department which functions under the chief secretary's establishment. The communication mentioned the names of the four IAS officers. The allegations as per the FIRs are that a private contractor, Satbir Singh and officers of Faridabad municipal corporation entered into a criminal conspiracy following which works relating to providing and laying of interlocking paver tiles in various streets of 11 municipal wards, supply of stone metals in 7 wards, construction of culverts in 11 wards, repair of drains in 10 wards aggregating to Rs.1.76 crores were arbitrarily awarded in the name of accused Satbir Singh at a uniform rate by public servants by abusing their official position with a view to cause undue pecuniary advantage to the contractor. "Subsequently, without getting any work executed at the site, bills issued by the contractor were settled on the basis of false and fabricated records, thereby causing wrongful loss to the government. During investigation, it has been found that officers and officials of municipal corporation in criminal conspiracy with the applicant and in violation of the provisions of clause 13.20.3 and 13.22.3 of Haryana PWD Code deliberately split up the large value work into 39 small value works so as to avoid inviting tenders and to facilitate the contractor with undue advantage by awarding him the work on single quotation by keeping the same under the delegated financial power of the commissioner. The work has actually not been carried out at the site. The measurement books have also been lost as a result of which the exact location where the work was purportedly executed is not possible to be identified,'' reads an official document....