Who was Rakesh Mehta? Ex-Delhi chief secretary who led 2010 Commonwealth Games preparations during Sheila Dikshit's tenure died by suicide

Former Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, 74, was found dead at his rented flat in Noida's Sector 82 on Sunday, hours after his family failed to reach him on the phone. Police recovered a one page note from the flat in which Mehta stated that no one was responsible for his death, pointing instead to the illnesses he had been living with.

Mehta, a 1975 batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer, served as Delhi's chief secretary from December 2007 to 2010, a tenure that placed him at the centre of the city's preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He had earlier headed the Delhi Transport Corporation and served as MCD commissioner, and was widely known for pushing reforms in urban governance and public transport.

Living alone in Noida


Mehta had been living by himself in his Kendriya Vihar-2 flat for nearly five years. His wife, also a retired Delhi cadre IAS officer, and their son lived in Dehradun, while their married daughter was based in London. Family members visited him from time to time, and his wife had last spoken to him over the phone on Saturday night.

How he was found

When repeated calls to Mehta went unanswered on Sunday afternoon, his family alerted the housing society's security staff. Two guards went up to his flat and found him dead inside. Police and a relative living nearby reached the spot soon after, and a forensic team examined the flat before his body was sent for a post mortem.

Rakesh Mehta suicide reason: What the note said

Police said the one page note recovered from the flat stated that no one was responsible for his death. Family members told police that Mehta had been suffering from hypertension, diabetes and other health issues, including tremors in his right hand and leg, for some time.

A long administrative career

Before becoming chief secretary, Mehta held several senior positions in the Delhi government, including chairman and managing director of the Delhi Transport Corporation and secretary (power). During his time at DTC, he oversaw the phasing out of the accident prone Blue Line buses and the introduction of low floor buses that later became a common sight on the city's roads. As chief secretary, he unveiled a 10 point agenda soon after taking charge and pushed for greater transparency in civic administration.

His tenure as chief secretary ran through the 2010 Commonwealth Games, an event later marked by controversies. He held the post under then chief minister Sheila Dikshit, whose handling of Games related spending also drew scrutiny at the time.

Education

Mehta studied at St Stephen's College, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the London School of Economics, where he read economics.
His final rites were held at the Lodhi Road crematorium in Delhi on Monday.
(With agency inputs)