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IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal faces a ₹1.63 crore fine by IARI for unauthorized bungalow stay from 2022–2025. She claims personal reasons and transparency, while the case raises concerns about government housing rules and enforcement.
IAS Durga Shakti Nagpal
New Delhi: IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who is a 2010 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, has been imposed a fine of about Rs 1.63 crore by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). The fine has been imposed on a government bungalow from May 2022 to February 2025 for allegedly living there unauthorized. However, Nagpal has dismissed the allegation and termed it as spurious and inappropriate.
Durga Shakti Nagpal was allotted the Government Bungalow B-17 (Type VI-A) located on the Pusa campus of Delhi in March 2015, when she was the Special Affairs Officer (OSD) of Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. She was authorized this bungalow in April 2015 and continued to deposit a monthly fare and water fee of Rs 6,600 regularly.
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In May 2019, her deputation to the Ministry of Agriculture ended. Despite this, she continued to stay in the bungalow despite working first in the Ministry of Commerce and later returning to the UP cadre in 2021. The dispute started from here.
Nagpal claimed that she increased her stay due to personal and family health reasons. Due to her father's bypass surgery and mother's knee replacement surgery, she could not vacate the bungalow on time. She had taken permission from the ministry to expand housing and also paid the fixed fare and the outstanding license fee of ₹ 88,610.
She says that oral consent was also received from the ministry, and she adopted the process with full transparency. Despite this, IARI imposed a heavy fine, calling her an unauthorized occupant.
Notice issued in the name of IAS Durga Shakti
IARI issued several notices from 2020 to vacate the bungalow. She was earlier allowed to stay till 10 October 2020, but later she remained more than the scheduled time. On this, the institute warned her to take action against her under the Public Campus Act, 1971.
The institute adopted the telescopic penalty system, under which every month's fare increased continuously—starting from ₹ 92,000 and reaching ₹ 4.6 lakh per month by the eighth month.
IARI eventually evicted Nagpalwith the help of Delhi Police. She vacated the bungalow on 28 February 2025, which was one day before the date announced by her.
After this, on 2 May 2025, IARI sent her a formal fine notice of ₹ 1.63 crore, which described the period from May 2022 to February 2025 as 'unauthorized possession.'
Nagpal says that she never intentionally violated the rules and the entire process was transparent. She is planning to challenge the fine and has also appealed for a discount.
The Uttar Pradesh government also sent her appeal to the Union Ministry on 26 June 2025, but no decision has been taken on it yet.
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This case not only reflects the individual situation of an IAS officer but also questions the government housing system, the clarity of the rules, and the way they are implemented. It will be interesting to see how the government finds a fair solution to the matter and what improvements are made to avoid such disputes in the future.
