Andhra IPS officer Sanjay's bail plea dismissed

Vijayawada, Oct 13 (IANS) The ACB Special Court on Monday dismissed the bail petition of senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer N. Sanjay in the case registered against him for alleged misuse of government funds.

With the court again dismissing his bail petition, Sanjay will have to remain in Vijayawada district jail.

Sanjay, a 1996-batch IPS officer, served as Director General (DG) of the A.P. State Disaster Response & Fire Services, and Additional DG of the Crime Investigation Department (CID).

He is accused of manipulating tender processes for awarding contract work of developing and maintaining the AGNI - NOC (Governance & NOC Integration) web portal and mobile app, and supplying hardware to a private company in violation of the procedures in 2023.

There are allegations that the IPS officer ordered the procurement of some equipment without calling tenders. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is also probing allegations of irregularities in payments to private companies and execution of projects.

Last month, the ACB had questioned Sajay for three days. He was grilled about allegations of financial irregularities, misappropriation of funds, and procedural violations during his tenure in various wings of the police department.

Sanjay had surrendered before the ACB Court on August 26, following Supreme Court directions.

The Supreme Court on July 31 dismissed the anticipatory bail granted to Sanjay by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The High Court had granted conditional anticipatory bail to Sanjay in January 2025 by noting that, being an IPS officer, the question of his fleeing was remote.

The State had filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order. While faulting the grounds on which the anticipatory bail was granted, the Supreme Court had directed Sanjay to surrender within three weeks.

During the previous regime of the YSR Congress Party, Sanjay, as the chief of CID, supervised the probe into the cases related to the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation scam and alignment of Amravati Inner Ring Road against the then Leader of the Opposition and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu. These cases resulted in the arrest of Naidu, who spent nearly two months in jail.

After Chandrababu Naidu assumed office as the Chief Minister in June 2024, following the electoral victory of the TDP-led NDA, Sanjay was transferred and was asked to report to the office of the DGP.

The coalition government also ordered a probe by the Vigilance & Enforcement (V&E) Department into the allegations against the IPS officer.

The Vigilance report recommended that the government take appropriate legal measures against Sanjay under the Central Services Conduct Rules.

The government suspended Sanjay on December 4, and the ACB registered a case against him on December 24 for alleged misuse of funds.

--IANS

ms/dan