IAS officer arrested in MP for forging court orders to escape an assault case

INDORE: Madhya Pradesh Police have arrested an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer for allegedly forging two orders of a local court in a case of assaulting a woman in Indore, officials said on Sunday.

The accused had allegedly got promoted from the State Administrative Service to the IAS cadre with the help of one of the forged orders pertaining to his acquittal in the assault case, they said.

IAS officer Santosh Verma, posted as additional commissioner in the Urban Administration and Development Department in Bhopal, was arrested late Saturday night after being questioned, City Superintendent of Police Harish Motwani said, without divulging any further details.

According to police officials, a special judge of the district court filed a complaint about this on June 26 this year at MG Road police station in Indore.

Based on the complaint, the police registered a case against unidentified persons under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) and other relevant provisions.

According to officials, two forged orders, dated October 6, 2020, were allegedly prepared in the name of the special judge of the local court. In one of these orders, Verma was acquitted of charges of abusing, and assault and criminal intimidation of a woman.

The other judgement said both the parties had reached an agreement. In his complaint, the special judge said he did not pass any order on October 6, 2020, as he was on casual leave that day for the check-up of his wife, who is a cancer patient, officials said.

The fake order about Verma's acquittal in the assault case was allegedly presented to the state government as original following which he was promoted to the IAS cadre, another official said. The police are conducting further investigation into the case, he added.