Partha Sarthi Mitra, former Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh has passed away. He was battling cancer for a long time and his treatment was going on. Vigilance investigation was going on against Mitra in the case of approval for purchase of land under Section-118 in Himach. When he was the Revenue Secretary in the Dhumal government, he was accused of irregularities in granting approval for purchase of land under Section-118. Later he also held the post of Chief Information Commissioner in the Virbhadra government. P. Mitra was originally from Delhi. He also has properties in Theog and other places in Himachal.
P Mitra was a 1978 batch IAS officer. He was born in 1956. It is alleged that in the year 2010-11, land was given to non-Himachalis by taking bribe. A case was registered under corruption in this. At that time there was Dhumal’s government and P Mitra was the principal secretary revenue. With the coming of the Congress government, the matter went into cold storage. The closure report of the vigilance was not accepted by the sessions court and then a fresh inquiry was conducted as soon as the Jairam government was formed. The Central Government had amended Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. After this, it has become necessary to get approval from the government before investigation or action against any government officer-employee. Because of this, the Vigilance Bureau had sought permission from the state government to conduct an inquiry against Mitra. Mitra was also questioned several times by Vigilance in this matter.
