IAS, IPS, IRS Officers Miss Property Filings

The number of IAS officers who failed to file IPRs fell from a peak of 883 in 2018 to 155 in 2026, after remaining high for several years between 2016 and 2022.

In 2026, non-compliance cases dropped to a record low in over a decade, showing improved compliance by officers in filing the mandated IPR return.

Line graph showing IAS officers who had not filed Immovable Property Returns from 2011 to 2026.

Likewise, IPS officers saw an even clearer decline, with defaults falling from 852 in 2019 to 145 in 2026. The numbers point to two different compliance stories.

Among IAS and IPS officers, non-filing has declined sharply in recent years. Among IRS officers, however, defaults have surged over the last three years.

Line graph showing IPS officers who had not filed Immovable Property Returns from 2017 to 2026.

Filing IPR is not a voluntary disclosure exercise. It is a compulsory service-rule requirement under the All India Services Conduct Rules, 1968.

A December 2022 Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) order stated that officers who fail to submit their property returns on time would be denied vigilance clearance and would not be considered for promotion and empanelment for senior-level posts in the Government of India.

DoPT Office Memorandum dated 23 December 2022, from North Block, New Delhi, titled “Facilitate implementation of online filing of IPRs in IPR module of SPARROW.”

Link: https://doptcirculars.nic.in/OM/ViewOMNew.aspx?id=361

Habitual defaulters promoted to key positions

• The analysis shows that a significant number of officers remained non-compliant for many years.
• The findings also indicate that some habitual defaulters were later promoted or appointed to key positions, raising questions over whether IPR compliance was verified before their career progression.
• This appears to contradict the DoPT’s 23 December 2022 communication, which reiterated that officers failing to submit property returns on time would be denied vigilance clearance and would not be considered for promotion or empanelment to senior-level posts in the Government of India.
• The issue becomes more significant in light of the amended IAS (Pay) Rules, 2016.
• Through amendments notified on 30 December 2021, DoPT inserted Note 4 under Rule 3(1) of the IAS (Pay) Rules, 2016, making the filing of IPR mandatory for being considered for appointment to the next level of the pay matrix.

The Gazette of India Extraordinary notification issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training, dated 30 December 2021.

• A DoPT office memorandum on 27 June 2022, further clarified that IAS officers who had not filed IPRs for any year from 1 January 2011 onwards were required to file the pending returns for consideration to the next pay level.
• The analysis also found that several officers listed as IPR defaulters have corruption cases either under investigation or pending before courts, making the non-compliance more than a procedural lapse.
• The findings raise larger questions about the enforcement of property-disclosure rules, vigilance clearance, and whether officers with repeated IPR defaults were allowed career advancement despite government instructions linking IPR filing with promotion, empanelment and pay-level progression.
• According to the official IPR website, the following officers remained non-compliant for over a decade but were still promoted, raising questions about a possible contradiction with the DoPT order.
• The Bhaskar English team also reached out to several officers. Some of them said they had been compliant with the filings and that the non-availability of their records on the official DoPT website was an accountability lapse on the part of DoPT.

Naresh Kumar

Naresh Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, served as Delhi Chief Secretary even as DoPT IPR records reviewed by this publication showed repeated non-filing/default entries against his name since 2011.

• His tenure was also marked by controversy after a Delhi government vigilance report alleged irregularities in the enhancement of compensation for land acquired in Bamnoli village for the Dwarka Expressway.
• Media reports said the compensation rose from ₹41.52 crore to ₹353.79 crore and raised questions over alleged links between the beneficiaries and Kumar’s son.
• The allegations were contested, and the matter later became the subject of legal proceedings.
• In a separate Uttarakhand case, an FIR was registered in Almora in April 2024 against Kumar and officer Y.V.V.J. Rajasekhar on the complaint of Pleasant Valley Foundation.
• The NGO alleged that men were sent to its school premises and that files, records and pen drives containing alleged evidence of “scams” were taken away.

Kumar later approached the Uttarakhand High Court seeking protection from arrest, but reports at the time said his plea was found defective by the court registry and he was asked to file a fresh application.

Kumar was originally due to retire on 30 November 2023, but received extensions and continued in office until 31 August 2024.

Alok Khare

Records reviewed by Bhaskar English show that Alok Khare, a 1992-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer, defaulted on filing IPRs from 2011 onwards.

• Khare’s case assumes significance because his name has also appeared in public reports linked to Assam graft cases, including the Green House scam.
• Media reports said he was among the officers summoned in the case, while The Telegraph reported in June 2013 that the Supreme Court stayed trial-court proceedings against him in a corruption case.
• There is no publicly available final conviction against him in the material reviewed.
• According to some media reports, Khare has been absent since 2009.
• His record sheet mentions “unauthorised absence.”

Vishal Gagan

Vishal Gagan is a 1998-batch IAS officer from the Odisha cadre and is currently serving as Principal Secretary at the Central Information Commission.

• According to publicly available records on the official DoPT website, his IPR return status has been shown as “not filed” since 2011, the earliest year for which such data is available.
• However, when contacted by Bhaskar English, Gagan said the website data is inaccurate.
• In a written response, he shared details of his IPR filings on the official SPARROW portal, where bureaucrats are required to submit their property returns.

Screenshot shared by Vishal Gagan showing IPR filed on the SPARROW portal.

He further clarified in the email that the non-filing status shown on the portal is inaccurate and that the matter is being taken up for correction on the portal/website.

Email received from Vishal Gagan, Secretary, CIC

By the time the story was filed, DoPT had updated its official records and removed his name from the defaulters list.

Rohit Kansal

Rohit Kansal, a 1995-batch IAS officer of the J&K-AGMUT cadre, was granted proforma promotion to the Apex Scale.

• According to his official profile on the Jammu and Kashmir General Administration Department website, Kansal is currently on central deputation and has been serving as Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, from 31 March 2026.
• The profile also records that he was elevated to the Fixed Scale, Pay Level 17, with effect from 1 July 2025.
• The promotion raises questions in light of the IAS Pay Rules, which make the filing of Immovable Property Returns mandatory for consideration to the next level of the pay matrix.
• When Bhaskar contacted Kansal over the phone, he said he had been filing his returns regularly and had not missed any filing.
• He said he did not know why his name appeared on the official defaulter list.
• As in the case of Vishal Gagan, DoPT also updated Rohit Kansal’s record on its official website.
• However, his name continued to appear in the defaulters list under the IPR status section for IAS officers who are yet to file returns/declarations.

In the rush to update its records, DoPT appears to have updated the filing status of some officers but failed to remove their names from the defaulters’ list. A few such names analysed by Bhaskar English include:

Kamal Kishore Soan Kamal Kishore Soan, a senior IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre from the 1998 batch, was shown as non-compliant in filing Immovable Property Returns since 2011, according to records available on the official DoPT website.

• However, after Bhaskar English contacted DoPT regarding the matter, the officer’s IPR details for the past 16 years were updated overnight.
• When Bhaskar English reached out to the officer for a response, we were informed that he was busy in a meeting.

Niraj Kumar Bansod

Like in the case of Soan, the record of Niraj Kumar Bansod, a 2008-batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, was also updated overnight.

• However, his name still appears in the list of defaulters on the website.
• Bhaskar English reached out to the officer for a response, but no reply was received.
• At the time of filing this story, no response had been received from the Department of Personnel and Training.
• The story will be updated as and when a response is received from department officials.

How the government tightened IPR compliance over time

The January filing requirement goes back several decades.

• A 1960 government instruction fixed the annual IPR filing cycle for All India Service officers.
• It required officers to submit their property return on first appointment and then every year in January.
• A 1994 instruction strengthened the compliance framework by making non-filing a serious service-rule lapse.
• Later DoPT reminders have repeatedly cited the 1960 and 1994 instructions while asking officers to file their annual property returns by 31 January.
• In 2007, DoPT issued guidelines on vigilance clearance for All India Service officers.

These guidelines laid down the importance of vigilance clearance for career-related processes such as empanelment, deputation, sensitive postings and training assignments.

The major enforcement step came in 2011.

DoPT amended its vigilance-clearance framework to state that vigilance clearance shall be denied to an officer who fails to submit the annual Immovable Property Return of the previous year by 31 January of the following year.

This changed the nature of IPR filing.

• It was no longer just a routine annual formality.
• Non-filing could now affect an officer’s eligibility for career movement.
• In 2012, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a similar warning for IPS officers.
• It stated that IPS officers who fail to file their IPRs on time may be denied vigilance clearance and may not be considered for promotion or empanelment for senior posts in the Government of India.

The SPARROW shift

For IAS officers, a major change came in 2017.

• DoPT introduced online filing of IPRs for IAS officers through the SPARROW module with effect from 1 January 2017.
• Since then, IAS officers have been required to file their annual Immovable Property Returns online through the system.
• SPARROW changed IPR filing from a paper-based compliance exercise into a digitally trackable process.
• It created a record of whether an officer filed the return, failed to file it, or completed the process through electronic submission.
• Recent DoPT reminders have also made it clear that officers must complete the IPR filing process by e-signing the return, and that the online module closes automatically after the prescribed deadline.
• This digital shift is important in the context of the IAS trend.
• IAS defaults remained high for several years but have fallen sharply in recent years.
• By 2026, the number of IAS officers who had not filed IPRs had fallen to 155.
• The fall suggests that digital filing, public tracking and repeated reminders may have improved compliance among IAS officers.