Gaurav Dahiya, a Gujarat IAS officer, was forcibly retired under 'Operation Gangajal' due to allegations of polygamy, misconduct, and controversies. His second wife accused him of bigamy and cheating, leading to investigations that confirmed the claims. Dahiya, originally an MBBS graduate from AIIMS, faced multiple disciplinary actions during his career, culminating in his early retirement in 2026.
ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2026, the Gujarat government forcibly retired two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, Gaurav Dahiya and K. Rajesh. This decision is part of an ongoing administrative cleanup drive called “Operation Gangajal,” launched by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. As reported by Hindustan Times, officers facing disciplinary action for misconduct, corruption, etc., are being reviewed under this drive.
Actions against them were taken after reviewing their service records. K. Rajesh, a 2011-batch IAS officer, was compulsorily retired because of criminal investigations against him. There were legal proceedings linked to bribery, money laundering, and illegal land allotment cases. Later, in 2022, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), following which he remained under suspension for a prolonged period until now. The other IAS officer is Gaurav Dahiya, who also had disciplinary actions against him in cases of polygamy, other misconduct, and controversies.
Gaurav Dahiya was due to retire in 2044, but he retired almost two decades early because of several disciplinary actions and controversies against him. One of them was that he had two wives at the same time. Because of this, he faced action and was suspended in 2019 from his post, but then he returned in 2023 after the government revoked his suspension. The state government appointed him as an Additional Development Commissioner in Gandhinagar.
This happened after his second wife, who was from Delhi, found out about his first wife. She made allegations against Dahiya of bigamy and cheating and claimed that he kept her in the dark when he married her in February 2018. She said Dahiya never told her about his first marriage and later blackmailed her with their intimate photos. The Delhi woman said that Dahiya married for the second time without divorcing his first wife, whom he married in 2009, and nearly eight years later, they also had a son.
Then, as per Dainik Bhaskar reports, the first wife filed a divorce case in 2018 after thinking about the child’s future and the deteriorating relationship between Dahiya and her, which had led to them living separately. The Delhi woman said the marriage happened in Tirupati, but Dahiya denied the allegations, saying that the woman had “honey trapped” him and blackmailed him. He also claimed that she had morphed the images of the marriage to extort money from him.
Following this, an inquiry committee was set up by the government to probe the allegations made by the wife. The committee of five women officers was selected, including three IAS officers. Numerous complaints were received against Dahiya at various levels, and after the investigation, he was suspended in 2019. The reports found that the claims made by the second wife related to his first marriage, incomplete divorce, birth certificate, wedding photos, and other documents were true and genuine.
Dahiya also used to send money to the Delhi wife, and the transaction records of this were also available. Some connections to money laundering and hawala channels were also found, recommending further investigation into the matter. The family of the first wife also claimed that Dahiya pressured her for divorce, including the purchase of a flat in her name. There were also allegations that Dahiya had an alleged relationship with a young colleague whom he recruited himself.
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There were also complaints and controversies against him while he was serving in the National Health Mission (NHM) department. When the government forcibly retired him, he was serving as the Additional Development Commissioner. He was accused of professional misconduct, and there were also departmental inquiries going on against him. However, the exact details of the compulsory retirement have not yet been disclosed by the government.
Dahiya is a 2010-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre through direct recruitment via the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Gaurav is originally from Gurugram, Haryana, and was a bright student since childhood. He earned his MBBS degree in 2007 from AIIMS, Delhi, and began preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Examination. When the results of the exam came in, he was ranked 76th in the All India Rank and became an IAS officer in the Gujarat cadre.
During his six years of service, Dahiya held nine documented postings in five different locations. During his time working, he went through many disciplinary proceedings, controversies, and misconduct inquiries. There were also many cases of misconduct and inquiries against him when he was working at the National Health Mission (NHM). Dahiya was later posted as Additional Development Commissioner in Gandhinagar and was forcibly retired by the government in 2026, leaving 18 years of service midway.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
[Rh/VP/HP]
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