Even as the CBI has begun its probe, the mysterious death of Chief Engineer-cum-General Manager of the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL), Vimal Negi, in March this year, has been mishandled both administratively and legally by the state government.
The entire episode reflects a lack of trust within the government set-up, particularly as senior officials such as Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Onkar Sharma, and Director General of Police, Dr Atul Verma (who retired on 31 May), chose not to route their reports through the Advocate General’s Office.
Instead, they submitted them directly to the Court, reportedly to avoid any dilution of the contents. The ACS submitted a fact-finding report, which the government allegedly asked him to amend by including the viewpoint of some targeted officers.
However, he refused. The DGP submitted an affidavit that mentioned a pen drive recovered from Negi’s body and raised concerns about attempts to delete files from it.
He also pointed out that the SIT head, SP Shimla, had not shared any information with him, despite being informed that the DGP had to present facts in court.
Superintendent of Police, Shimla, Sanjeev Gandhi, who headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and found himself under scrutiny following a single bench High Court judgment that handed over the investigation to the CBI, took an unusual step.
A day after the court order, he publicly criticised the DGP and other senior officials. Subsequently, he filed an appeal in an official capacity against the CBI probe. When the High Court Registry returned it due to procedural flaws, he refiled the petition in his individual capacity before a double bench.
While the double bench upheld the CBI probe, it issued notices to respondents to allow Gandhi to present his viewpoint on the DGP’s affidavit and the ACS’s fact-finding report.
The state government, which showed its displeasure by asking the ACS, DGP, and SP Shimla to proceed on leave for alleged indiscipline when the CBI probe was ordered, remained silent on Gandhi’s subsequent court appeals.
This was despite the Chief Minister’s earlier statement welcoming a CBI probe. The government’s silence raises further questions, particularly since the DGP was denied the customary retirement farewell parade as a form of punishment.
However, the SP—who publicly criticised top officials, including the Chief Secretary and a constitutional authority—has not faced any strict disciplinary action.
Sanjeev Gandhi’s separate allegations against former Congress minister and current BJP MLA, Sudhir Sharma—claiming he masterminded cross-voting during the 2024 Rajya Sabha elections—have already landed him in further trouble.
Sharma has served him a criminal defamation notice and written to the Speaker seeking a privilege motion against him.
The entire sequence of events leading to the CBI investigation into the suspicious death of a senior HPPCL engineer—amid allegations of harassment and corruption by top Corporation officials made by Negi’s family—has placed the state government under intense public scrutiny.
While the BJP has openly condemned Gandhi’s conduct as gross indiscipline and claimed he was advancing the state government’s agenda to resist a CBI inquiry, public sentiment also views the SP’s actions with suspicion.
“Why is the SP so intent on stopping a CBI investigation?” asked Negi’s wife in several interviews. “We had to go to court because the SIT failed to do its job. Can you imagine, instead of investigating the accused in the FIR, they were probing our family’s property? And what about the pen drive? Why did the SIT try to suppress its existence?”
She added that the family initially waited for a proper investigation by the state, but turned to the court when they realised the accused were being shielded.
The case has also given the opposition BJP an opportunity to tap into public sentiment, drawing comparisons with the infamous Gudiya case—regarding the rape and murder of a minor girl during a previous Congress regime in Himachal Pradesh.
That case was eventually investigated by the CBI amid allegations of a custodial death and tampered evidence.
Seven Himachal Pradesh police personnel, including the entire SIT and an Inspector General, were sentenced to life imprisonment in that matter.
“The government’s conduct in the Vimal Negi case is questionable, and the allegations so far indicate a possible link to corruption,” said Leader of the Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur.
“SP Shimla’s attempt to block the CBI probe—first officially, then personally—has raised many eyebrows. The government seems biased against senior officers who highlighted irregularities in the case. The CBI will surely uncover the truth.”
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