IAS lodges FIR for circulating false & malicious letter that damages the image

Shimla: Chairman of the State Electricity Board, Chief Managing Director of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, and IAS officer Harikesh Meena has lodged an FIR against an unknown person for producing a false and malicious letter against him and circulating the same to an unknown person for damaging his image through social media.
A First Information Report (FIR-180/23) was registered at Police Station West (Bioleuganj) under sections 500 and 505(2) of the IPC on August 22, 2023, on the complaint of Harikesh Meena, residents of Oak Cottage Lower Chakker Near Printing Presses, Shimla.
The IAS officer stated in the first information that some unknown person produced a false and malicious letter and circulated it in different channels to damage his image through social media.
According to a police officer, Sub Inspector Jeet Ram is investigating the case.
Importantly, soon after the letter went viral on August 18, the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government also instituted a probe to find out the truth, as his government had also been accused of raising party funds through illegal means from a power firm in lieu of handing contracts to it.
The alleged letter is reportedly addressed to CBI director Parveen Sood, accusing an IAS officer of forcing employees of HPPCL to facilitate a power firm constructing a power project that belonged to the public sector unit.
It is not the first occasion when such a letter surfaced in the circulation of social media, but similar complaints had been addressed to the prime minister, who also accused the Congress government and its bureaucracy of being implicit in the alleged activities.
Neither CBI nor any state agencies responded to such sensitive and wild allegations against the state bureaucracy and top officials affiliated with CMO to give them a clean chit.
Pertinently, hydro projects and smart metre installation multi-billion dollar deals are not only simmering unrest among the Himachal Pradesh Power Company employees and state electricity board, but consumers in the country, especially in Union Territory Jammu, are armed up against the government agencies.
The FIR accusations made by Harikesh Meena that the author of the letters is unknown also verify the fact that no person named Anmol Singh Thakur as Assistant Manager exists in HPPCL. The contents of the letters could not be verified as the complainant named in the letter didn’t reveal his actual name.
The lodging of an FIR in the matter also verified the facts that the IAS officer was not involved in the illicit proceeds of money from the private company engaged in billion-dollar hydro projects.
After taking over the charge recently, CBI director Parveen Sood has already directed all the states and branches of the investigation agency to give more priority to scams related to financial fraud, including bank loan fraud and big graft charges.
However, CBI may take cognizance in the matter as funding or borrowing made by HPPCL is also linked to union government consent, and the return and liabilities of loans to international agencies for hydro projects are also borne by the government of India beside the state government.