The Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB) formally chargesheeted Soumya Chaurasia on Tuesday, 14th October. She is a former Deputy Chief Secretary to the then Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the previous Congress government. The case pertains to disproportionate assets, she is accused of amassing assets and investments nearly 19 times higher than her known sources of income.
Officials stated that this is the largest case of disproportionate assets against a government employee in the history of the state.
According to the ACB-EOW investigation, Chaurasia is accused of amassing ₹46.96 crore in assets, which is about 1,872% more than her legitimate income of ₹2.52 crore during her 17 years in government service. The 8,000-page chargesheet revealed that she invested heavily in real estate, often using the names of her family members and close associates to hide ownership.
Investigators found that Chaurasia bought at least 45 properties across Raipur, Durg, and Korba districts, using her mother, husband, cousin, and sister’s father-in-law as fronts. The majority of the purchases were between 2019 and 2022 when she was a deputy secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office during Bhupesh Baghel’s regime.
Chaurasia, a 2008-batch officer of the Chhattisgarh State Administrative Service, had earlier been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in December 2022 in a separate money laundering case linked to the ₹540-crore coal levy scam. She was later released on bail by the Supreme Court in May this year.
After the BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh, the ACB-EOW booked her in three different cases: the coal levy case, the misuse of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds, and the disproportionate assets case.
The bureau’s report stated, “During her 17 years of service, Chaurasia and her family’s total legal income was ₹2.52 crore. However, she earned nearly ₹49.69 crore through illegal means.” Officials said most of this money was routed into benami investments in land, buildings, and other properties.
Chaurasia began her career as an accounts officer in 2005 and was later promoted to deputy collector in Bilaspur. In 2019, she was appointed deputy secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, a position that, according to investigators, gave her the influence she used to build her vast illicit wealth.
