Rajasthan's senior IAS officer Shikhar Aggarwal and his IPS wife Dr. Prashakha Mathur have been accused of purchasing 40 villas and cottages in Ananta Resorts of Udaipur and Alwar.
The allegation is that he bought these properties from Goyal Fashions Private Limited, which runs the resort, and while holding government posts, benefited the company against the rules.
After the matter came into the media, it has become a topic of discussion across the country.
The Rajasthan government has handed over its investigation to the Anti-Corruption Bureau i.e. ACB. The husband and wife have been removed from their posts and put on 'Awaiting Posting Order' (APO). That means they are now waiting for new posting.
The state government issued an order on November 2 and also banned the government concessions being given to Goyal Fashions Private Limited.
Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has called it the biggest corruption case that came to light during the tenure of Bhajanlal Sharma government. He has demanded investigation by CBI and ED.
What action has been taken so far?
In this case, both the officers were removed from their posts on 28 October. At present he has not been given any new responsibility.
After this, on October 30, the government approved the investigation into corruption allegations against IAS officer Shikhar Aggarwal. Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered the case on October 31 and started investigation.
Shikhar Aggarwal and his wife are currently in America. We tried to contact him through phone but could not reach him.
BBC News Hindi also tried to contact Ananta Resort Udaipur by phone, but could not reach them either.
How many villas and cottages were purchased in total?
ACB Director General Govind Gupta issued a press note saying that 40 villas and cottages in Udaipur and Alwar were purchased from Goyal Fashions Private Limited, which runs hotels and resorts.
These include 20 cottages of a resort located at Bujhra in Udaipur district and 20 villas of a resort located at Ajabgarh in Alwar district.
According to media reports, 20 cottages were purchased in the resort of Udaipur in September 2023. It is alleged that Shikhar Aggarwal and Prashakha Mathur bought these cottages for Rs 10 lakh each.
It has been told in the press note of ACB that 20 villas were purchased in the resort of Alwar in March 2026. Of these, eight villas each were purchased in the name of the husband and wife, two villas in the name of their sons and two in the name of Prashakha Mathur's parents.
The price of a villa is said to be between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 16.5 lakh.
Media reports allege that all 40 villas and cottages were purchased for a total of Rs 6.16 crore.
Rented to the same company from which I bought it.
The important thing related to this purchase is that the company from which these 40 properties were purchased, were later allegedly given on lease to the same company.
According to media reports, the annual rent for each cottage in Udaipur is Rs 4 lakh and the annual rent for each villa in Alwar is Rs 5 lakh.
According to the news published in Dainik Bhaskar, 20 cottages are earning Rs 80 lakh annually and 20 villas are earning Rs 1 crore. In this way, a total annual rent of Rs 1.80 crore is said to be received from these properties.
One year's rent is about 29 percent of the amount spent on purchasing the property.
This purchase and lease process raised questions as to why the company sold its properties to the families of executives and then took them on lease again and what was the actual market value of the properties at the time of these deals?
Shikhar Aggarwal accused of benefiting the company
After the matter came to light, questions are being raised about Shikhar Aggarwal's properties and the alleged benefits he provided to the company while holding government posts.
In the press note issued regarding the initial investigation, ACB claimed that Shikhar Aggarwal, while holding different positions, allegedly colluded with the directors of Goyal Fashions and provided undue benefits to the company.
Shikhar Aggarwal has also been Additional Chief Secretary in the office of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. For this reason the opposition is directly cornering the state government on this matter.
According to the ACB, Shikhar Aggarwal is accused of allegedly getting relaxation in the conditions related to the construction of the resort, giving approval without checking the necessary certificates and providing special concessional financial package to the company.
ACB says that there is a possibility of financial loss to the state government due to this.
According to ACB Director General Govind Gupta, the bureau had looked at media reports, factual reports received from the Industries Department and information received from confidential sources.
After this, it was decided to file a preliminary report when prima facie verifiable facts emerged.
How did the matter come to light?
This matter became public after a report by Dainik Bhaskar's investigative journalist Awadhesh Akodia.
He tells BBC News Hindi, "In this case of 40 villas, information about 14 villas being in the name of Shikhar Aggarwal was received from the public portal. After this, further investigation revealed more information."
He says, "After checking the purchase of 14 properties on the portal and the annual rent received from them, it was found that not only Shikhar Aggarwal, but also has villas and cottages in his wife's name. But the information about the properties in his wife's name has not been given on the IPR portal."
Adhesh Akodiya says, "Investigation revealed that cottages and villas have also been purchased in the names of his sons and in-laws. This is how the whole matter came to light."
Adhesh Akodia had also taken Shikhar Aggarwal's side for his news.
According to him, Shikhar Aggarwal said that there is nothing wrong in this. Information about properties is given on the IPR portal and is also mentioned in the income tax returns.
However, on the question of information about properties in the wife's name not being available on the IPR portal, Shikhar Aggarwal said that it might have been uploaded somewhere at the wrong place.
Akodiya says, "It does not happen that the information is uploaded at the wrong place, because this information is filled directly on the portal. Nothing is uploaded in it."
According to him, in the year 2023, 10 cottages were purchased in Udaipur in the name of Shikhar Aggarwal's wife IPS Dr. Prashakha Mathur, but he did not give this information even in RTI.
Akodiya says that when Shikhar Aggarwal was questioned about the properties in the names of his sons and in-laws, he said that everyone had purchased them at their own level.
What did Ashok Gehlot ask the Chief Minister?
After the matter came to light, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot cornered the BJP government of the state.
While talking to the media at his residence in Jaipur on October 30, he called it the biggest scam that came to light during the tenure of Bhajanlal Sharma government.
Gehlot said that merely making the officer APO is not enough. The matter should also be investigated by CBI and ED.
Questioning the role of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, he alleged that the meetings held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister and the role of the Chief Minister's office should be investigated behind the decisions that benefit the concerned company.
On October 3, Gehlot also asked questions to the Chief Minister on social media platform X.
He said, "Chief Minister, the question is still the same. What is your role in giving special package to Ananta Resort? And why are you not handing over the investigation of this case to CBI instead of ACB?"
He said that this is a government with zero tolerance and if anyone is found guilty, strict action will be taken against him.
