The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused suspended IAS officer Sanjeev Hans of accepting a ₹1 crore bribe from a Mumbai-based real estate firm in exchange for influencing a favourable decision from the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). The alleged incident occurred during Hans’s tenure as private secretary to the late Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
As per a prosecution complaint filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Hans misused his position between 2014 and 2019 to assist RNA Group, a financially struggling real estate developer. The ED claims the bribery arrangement was facilitated by Hans’s IAS batchmate and IIT-Delhi alumnus, Vipul Bansal, who was then employed with RNA Group.
The agency’s complaint outlines how Hans allegedly intervened in NCDRC proceedings—under the purview of the Consumer Affairs Ministry led by Paswan—to delay judgments and block the arrest of Saranga Agarwal, wife of RNA Corp’s chairman. Statements cited in the complaint allege Hans secured two hearing dates in exchange for the bribe, which was purportedly routed through an intermediary named Shadad Khan.
Hans, a 1997-batch officer of the Bihar cadre, was previously arrested in October 2024 on separate charges of possessing disproportionate assets exceeding ₹100 crore, including ₹60 crore linked to a ₹3,300 crore contract he oversaw while serving as chairman of the Bihar State Power Holding Company Ltd. He is currently in judicial custody at Beur Jail, Patna.
The ED’s complaint, which was formally acknowledged by a special PMLA court last month, also names several associates of Hans, including former RJD MLA Ghulab Yadav, as part of a broader corruption nexus. To date, 13 individuals have been arrested and 33 charged across three separate complaints in the ongoing investigation.
Hans’s lawyer, Advocate Changez Khan, has strongly denied the allegations, calling them “baseless and concocted.” In a public statement, Khan said, “This is nothing more than a targeted smear campaign. Mr. Hans remains resolute and believes the truth will ultimately prevail.”
