New Delhi: In a development that has stirred administrative circles, Durga Shakti Nagpal, a 2010-batch IAS officer currently serving as District Magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, has been slapped with a hefty fine of Rs 1.63 crore by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for allegedly overstaying in a government bungalow in Delhi. 

The amount was calculated using the government’s telescopic formula for unauthorised occupation. For Type VI-A accommodation, the damages start at Rs 92,000 per month and increase progressively every month up to Rs 4.6 lakh.

The controversy centers around Bungalow B-17, a Type VI-A accommodation on IARI’s Pusa campus, which Nagpal occupied from April 2015.

Initially allotted during her tenure as Officer on Special Duty to then Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, the bungalow was meant to be vacated after her deputation ended in May 2019.

However, records show she continued to reside there until February 2025, spanning postings in the Commerce Ministry and her return to the Uttar Pradesh cadre News18.

IARI’s demand notice, issued under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, calculates damages using a telescopic formula -- starting at Rs 92,000 per month and escalating to Rs 4.6 lakh monthly over time.

The total penalty for the period between May 2022 and February 2025 amounts to Rs 1,63,57,550.

Nagpal, an alumna of Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women with a B.Tech in Computer Science, has defended her extended stay.

Citing her parents’ serious health conditions -- her father’s bypass surgery and her mother’s knee replacement -- she claims to have received official permission and paid the rent. She told a section of media that she had paid the rent.

Due to some missing paperwork, penal charges were added, which are purely notional, she said and has requested a waiver.

Despite multiple reminders from IARI since 2020, eviction proceedings began in July 2022, culminating in police-assisted possession recovery in early 2025.

The Ministry is currently reviewing her waiver request, supported by a letter from the Uttar Pradesh government sent in June 2025. Nagpal, known for her anti-corruption work and administrative acumen, continues to lead development initiatives in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Whether this financial dispute will impact her career remains to be seen, but it has certainly reignited debates around bureaucratic accountability and housing norms.

(IANS)