ED arrests former Chhattisgarh PSC Chairman Taman Singh Sonwani in CGPSC paper leak case

The Enforcement Directorate arrested former Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission chairman Taman Singh Sonwani under PMLA in connection with a money laundering probe linked to alleged state service exam paper leaks and manipulation favoring relatives in exchange for bribes

Raipur: The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested former Chhattisgarh PSC chairman Taman Singh Sonwani here on money laundering charges in an alleged examination paper leak case, officials said.

The probe pertains to the “leak” of question papers and “manipulation” of the state service examinations conducted in 2020 and 2021 by the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC). Officials said Sonwani was taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after his questioning. They claimed he was “evasive” in his replies.

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The former PSC chief is being produced before a special PMLA court in Raipur, where the ED will seek his custodial remand, an official said. The money laundering investigation stems from a 2024 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. The CBI case was booked based on a state police complaint that was filed after the BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh defeating the Congress in November 2023. Sonwani was arrested by the CBI in 2024.

The ED accused Sonwani of leaking question papers and rigging selections in exchange for illegal gratification favouring his own relatives and candidates who paid bribes.

The central agency claimed that the recruitment rules of the PSC were amended in 2021 to remove the word “nephew” from the definition of family, allegedly to facilitate the selection selection of his relatives to government posts.

According to the ED, the probe found that “bribes” were collected partly in cash and partly laundered through a family-controlled “samiti” in the guise of CSR donation for a “non-existent” college. It alleged that about Rs 45 lakh was routed this way from a private company as a quid pro quo for fixing the selection of two deputy collectors.