Business2 min
Ashok Gehlot demands CBI, ED probe into Rajasthan IAS officer Shikhar Agarwal's villa deal
The former chief minister says sidelining the senior bureaucrat is not enough, as questions mount over 40 properties, lease-backs and a government incentive package.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has demanded that the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate investigate property deals linked to senior IAS officer Shikhar Agarwal and his family. Speaking at his Civil Lines residence in Jaipur on Friday, Gehlot said moving Agarwal to awaiting posting orders (APO) does not go far enough.
Gehlot called the matter the biggest scam of the last three years under the Bhajan Lal Sharma government. He argued that an FIR or an Anti-Corruption Bureau inquiry would fall short, and he pressed for central agencies to take over.
He also aimed at the Chief Minister's Office. Gehlot alleged the company at the centre of the row received concessions after meetings chaired by Sharma, and he asked the Chief Minister to explain those decisions and say what corrective steps have followed.
So what is the controversy about? Media reports say Agarwal, his wife and IPS officer Prashakha Mathur, and their family bought 20 villas in Ajabgarh, Alwar, and 20 cottages in Bujhra, Udaipur, from Goyal Fashions for about Rs 6.16 crore. The properties were reportedly registered at low prices, then leased back to the company for roughly Rs 1.80 crore a year. That works out to nearly 29% of the declared purchase price, an unusually steep annual return.
Reports also flag a customised incentive package granted to the company's project under the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme. The concession order reportedly coincided with the March 2026 registration of the Alwar properties. Agarwal, a 1993-batch officer who earlier served as additional chief secretary to Sharma, holds the industries portfolio and chairs RIICO. The government said the APO order, issued late Wednesday, was for administrative reasons.
The pressure is coming from several directions. Advocates Poonam Chand Bhandari and T N Sharma, acting for the Jaipur-based group Public Against Corruption, have asked the CBI to register an FIR. Their complaint covers alleged disproportionate assets, undervalued properties, benefits to the company, businesses run by Agarwal's relatives and alleged advantages tied to forest land. BJP leader and senior advocate Indra Mohan Singh has separately approached the ACB.
BJP MLA Balmukundacharya said agencies are looking into the matter and that the government follows zero tolerance, promising strict action against anyone found guilty. Agarwal and his wife are reportedly travelling in the US. He has reportedly said the deals were disclosed in their tax returns and property statements, and blamed missing information on a technical error. None of the allegations has been proven.
Read the original report at The New Indian Express.
