Going to jail on charges of corruption and coming out of its high walls on bail has been a feature common to five Indian Administrative Service officers in Jharkhand.

This is not a joke. Since Bihar was bifurcated to create a separate state of Jharkhand in the year 2000 to usher in the development of the mineral-rich homeland of tribals, one short of half a dozen IAS officers have recorded the shameful tag of jail on charges of corruption.

Consider the official record. First among them was Sajal Chakravorty, an 1980 batch IAS officer. He who is no more alive was convicted on charges of corruption and conspiracy in the multi-million-rupee fodder scam. He remained in jail for five years and died due to several diseases in judicial custody.

Second was Dr. Pradeep Kumar, a 1991 batch IAS officer. The Enforcement Directorate had charged him under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of a chargesheet filed by the CBI in the National Rural  Health Mission case.

Third is Pooja Singhal, a 2000-batch IAS officer. She was arrested for allegedly embezzling crores of MGNREGA funds in Khunti. She remained in jail for 28 months. After she came out of jail on bail, her suspension from service was revoked and reinstated her service as Principal Secretary with effect from December 7, 2024.
  
Fourth was Chhavi Ranjan, a 2011 batch IAS officer. He had allegedly facilitated the illegal purchase of sale of land, including one owned by the Indian Army. He was arrested and sent to jail on May 4, 2023.

The latest to land in jail is Vinay Choubey, IAS officer of the 1999 batch. He was arrested and jailed in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam in Jharkhand.