Mehta, a 1975-batch IAS officer, was found dead on Sunday at his rented flat in Kendriya Vihar-II, a residential society in Sector 82. Police from the Phase-2 police station reached the apartment after receiving information about the death and began proceedings to establish the circumstances.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Diksha Singh said Mehta had died by suicide and that a note recovered from the flat said he had taken the step because of prolonged illness and that no one should be held responsible.
Police said Mehta had been living alone at the Noida flat for about five years. His wife, also a retired IAS officer, and other family members were living away from Noida and remained in contact with him.
His wife last spoke to him on Saturday night, according to police. When repeated calls to him went unanswered on Sunday afternoon, family members contacted security personnel at the housing complex and asked them to check on him.
Security staff went to the flat and found Mehta unresponsive. Police were informed at about 1.30 pm, after which a team from the local police station and a field unit arrived at the residence.
Investigators examined the apartment and collected material from the scene. The body was sent for a post-mortem examination as part of the legal procedure, and police said it was later handed over to the family.
Officials said the preliminary inquiry had not indicated foul play. The note and other evidence collected from the flat are being examined as investigators complete the formal inquiry into the death.
Mehta had served as Delhi’s chief secretary from 2007 until his retirement in November 2010, during the tenure of then chief minister Sheila Dikshit. His period as the administration’s senior-most bureaucrat included the preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Before becoming chief secretary, Mehta held a series of senior assignments in the Delhi administration and also served as commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Former colleagues associated him with major civic, transport and power-sector projects undertaken during his years in government.
Colleagues remembered him as an administrator who worked across departments before reaching the chief secretary’s office. His assignments placed him at the centre of coordination between the Delhi government, civic agencies and public utilities at a time when the capital was undertaking large-scale upgrades. Police have not linked any aspect of his career to the death, and the inquiry is focused on the circumstances at his home.
His tenure at the top of the Delhi bureaucracy came during a period of intensive infrastructure work ahead of the Commonwealth Games, when multiple agencies were engaged in road, transport, urban services and civic projects across the capital.
Police have avoided drawing conclusions beyond the contents of the note and the evidence available at the scene. The circumstances described in the note are being treated as part of the investigation rather than as a substitute for the formal legal and medical process.
Accounts of Mehta’s age have varied, with some records describing him as 74 and others as 75. Authorities have, however, consistently identified him as a retired 1975-batch IAS officer and former Delhi chief secretary.
After completion of the post-mortem and other formalities, Mehta’s body was released to his relatives. His cremation was held at the Lodhi Road crematorium in Delhi on Monday.
Police said they were continuing to verify the sequence of events before his death, including the family’s last contact with him and the circumstances in which the body was discovered.
The Phase-2 police station is handling the case. Investigators are expected to consider the suicide note, medical information made available to them, forensic findings and statements from family members and others connected with the discovery of the body.
