IAS Officer Sonal Goel Seeks Vigilance Clearance for Voluntary Retirement

IAS officer Sonal Goel, who faces multiple corruption allegations related to her tenure as Faridabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner, has written to Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi requesting a personal hearing regarding her long-pending application for voluntary retirement.

Sonal Goel, a 2008-batch IAS officer from the Tripura cadre, has been waiting for over 18 months for vigilance clearance necessary for her voluntary retirement application to proceed. The delay in clearance is due to ongoing Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigations into a financial irregularity during her tenure as Municipal Commissioner of Faridabad. 

In her recent communication with the Chief Secretary, Goel requested to "be allowed to be present during the discussion" of her file.  According to sources in the Chief Secretary's office, "No vigilance clearance is granted to her. Her case is pending." 

The corruption allegations against Goel are substantial. The ACB alleges that after leaving her position as Faridabad MC Commissioner and while serving as Deputy Commissioner of Jhajjar in October 2017, she "fraudulently got prepared/generated forged and fictitious documents showing execution of 112 works of repair and maintenance of the value of Rs 4.90 crore" and similarly for "28 works of the value of Rs 1.76 crores." Investigators claim she acted in collusion with Municipal Corporation officials and a contractor, despite knowing the works had not been executed. 

Another allegation involves Goel granting administrative approval for interlocking paver tiles in Ward No. 14 for Rs 54.36 lakh, despite having authority to approve only up to Rs 50 lakh. She released a payment of Rs 85.30 lakh to the contractor on October 11, 2019, knowing the initial administrative approval was for a lesser amount, with no proposal for revision submitted to the Municipal Corporation. 

In her defense, Goel has cited recent Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) guidelines dated October 9, 2024, which state that vigilance clearance can be denied only if a chargesheet is served within three months of approval for investigation. She argues that in her case, "the period of three months is lapsed long time ago and no further action has been there by ACB/Govt of Haryana against me till date." 

The Haryana Government had previously informed the DoPT on October 31, 2023, that it had granted permission to investigate Goel under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. 

However, Goel challenged this in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which allowed the ACB to continue its inquiry but directed that no coercive action be taken against her. The court also instructed Goel to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.