IARI demands ₹1.63 crore from IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal for ‘unauthorized’ bungalow stay

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), under the Union Agriculture Ministry has issued a notice to 2010-batch IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, demanding ₹1.63 crore in damages for what it terms her “unauthorized occupation” of an official bungalow on its Pusa campus in Delhi between May 2022 and February 2025.

Nagpal, currently serving as District Magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri said that her continued stay was necessitated by her parents’ ill health, including her father’s bypass surgery and her mother’s knee replacements. She said she had sought extensions, paid the rent, and vacated the premises, while requesting a waiver of the penal charges she calls “notional and impractical.”

“I had requested the Ministry for an extension, which was allowed, and I have paid the rent for the same and subsequently vacated the house. Still, due to some lack of paperwork, they added compounding penal charges. I have requested a waiver, which is under consideration. That is why the state government also sent a letter to the Ministry on June 26 this year requesting a waiver,” Nagpal said.

Nagpal had been allotted bungalow B-17 (Type VI-A) on March 19, 2015, while serving as Officer on Special Duty to then Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, taking possession in April 2015 at a monthly rent of ₹6,600 plus water charges.

Even after her deputation in the Agriculture Ministry ended in May 2019, she continued to occupy the residence while working in the Commerce Ministry and later upon returning to the UP cadre. She vacated the house in February this year.

According to IARI, Nagpal’s request for extension “cannot be considered since the allotment of the aforementioned bungalow was already cancelled,” and she was directed to deposit ₹1,63,57,550 in “damage charges” for the period from May 2022 to February 2025.

IARI records show repeated efforts to reclaim the bungalow since 2020. Letters warned Nagpal of eviction under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, and of escalating penalties calculated on a telescopic formula — starting at ₹92,000 per month and progressively increasing to ₹4.6 lakh per month.

Despite reminders and temporary extensions, eviction proceedings were initiated in July 2022, with a series of notices and final eviction issued in January 2023. The ₹1.63 crore demand reflects government norms for unauthorized occupation of Type VI-A accommodation, calculated using the telescopic formula that sharply increases penalties over time.

Nagpal has already deposited an outstanding license fee of ₹88,610 for May 2015–April 2022 and reiterated her request for a waiver of the punitive damages, which remains under consideration.