Bhubaneswar: In a significant legal development, Vinod Kumar, the dismissed IAS officer with over 27 corruption cases against him, was convicted for the 10th time by a Special Vigilance Court in Bhubaneswar. The State Vigilance Directorate confirmed the conviction on Tuesday.
Kumar, a 1989-batch IAS officer, was dismissed from service in February 2022 due to his involvement in corruption. He is a key accused in the multi-crore rural housing scam that took place when he served as the Managing Director of the Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) in 2001. This conviction marks yet another chapter in his long-running legal troubles.
The Special Vigilance Court sentenced the former bureaucrat to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 for his role in disbursing loans without proper security deposits. This is the latest conviction in a series of cases that have resulted in charges of criminal misconduct, forgery, cheating, and criminal conspiracy under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Kumar’s legal journey took a significant turn in 2021, when he was convicted for the first time. After receiving clearance from the Centre, the Odisha State Government dismissed him from his position, making him the first IAS officer from the state cadre to face such a dismissal due to corruption charges. Kumar’s crimes stem from his tenure as the MD of ORHDC, where he sanctioned and distributed Rs 33.34 crore in housing funds through corrupt practices. This occurred during the large-scale rural housing reconstruction efforts following the Super Cyclone of 1999 that devastated the state.
In total, Vinod Kumar is facing charges in 27 corruption cases filed by the State Vigilance and anti-corruption agencies in Odisha, with accusations ranging from undue official favor to misappropriation of public funds.
The latest conviction adds to his already extensive criminal record, underscoring the seriousness of his involvement in widespread corruption during his bureaucratic career.
