Shimla, May 26: Sanjay Gupta, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh presently holding additional charge of chief secretary, has been appointed the state’s chief secretary, according to a notification issued on Tuesday.
He was given the additional charge of chief secretary on October 1, 2025, after former chief secretary Prabodh Saxena superannuated on September 30.
Born on June 5, 1966, Gupta holds a degree in civil engineering and a diploma in management.
The notification about the appointment of Gupta came two days after the Himachal Pradesh State Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist) had demanded his removal as officiating chief secretary and legal proceedings against him.
“The decision has put a big question mark on the functioning of the Congress government in the state as there are serious corruption charges against Gupta in regard to irregularities in Chester Hill real estate project in Solan district,” said CPI(M) leader and former mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation Sanjay Chauhan.
On one hand, the government talks about zero tolerance towards corruption, while on the other hand, it has appointed an officer against whom several corruption-related cases are pending and whose conduct has also been questioned by the court, he added.
The party had demanded a judicial inquiry into the allegations of violation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act against the promoters of the Chester Hill project.
Earlier, advocate Vinay Sharma had given a complaint to the police for registration of a case against government officials and other persons involved in benami land transactions in the name of Chester Hill 2 and Chester Hill 4 in Solan on March 24.
Sharma alleged that Gupta purchased approximately 3.18 acres of land in Punjab’s Kharar costing about Rs 25 crore for Rs 1.38 crore and added that funds derived from the Chester Hill case may have financed this land purchase.
Gupta had denied all allegations and said that two former chief secretaries were behind a conspiracy to defame him. (PTI)
