Dilip Singh Judeo (born 8 March 1949) was the Indian Minister of State for Environment and Forests in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party led coalition government. He hails from the Royal family of Jashpur. He is at present Rajkumar of Royal family of Jashpur. In November 2003 he was accused of accepting a bribe from an Australian company in exchange for mining rights in Chhattisgarh. The accusation was made by The Sunday Express newspaper, which had received a video of the bribe taking place. He rejected initial calls for his resignation, however he did resign on 17 November 2003.
Judeo claimed that he had been set up by Christian missionaries and/or by his Congress Party rival for the post of Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi.
In 2005, the Central Bureau of Investigation told the Indian Supreme Court that the bribe exposé was planned by Amit Jogi, the son of the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi, as a means to derive political mileage in favour of Ajit Jogi in upcoming elections.
Judeo led the BJP to victory in the 2003 Vidhan Sabha Elections and refrained from taking the Chair of Chief Minister of the state despite a wide campaign for the same from the Tribals of Chhatisgarh.
Famous quotes containing the word singh:
“It’s a tree on a riverbank: how long can it survive?”
—Punjabi proverb, trans. by Gurinder Singh Mann.