Retired IFS officer withdraws plea seeking to quash MOEF report on Magsaysay awardee Sanjiv Chaturvedi’s harassment | Chandigarh News
CHANDIGARH: Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of Haryana cadre M L Rajavanshi withdrew his plea from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in which he sought directions to quash the report of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) that indicted several political leaders, bureaucrats and forest officials for harassing whistleblower Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and Magsaysay awardee Sanjiv Chaturvedi. “The petition is filed seeking quashing of the inquiry report dated December 8, 2010, and all consequential proceedings… After arguing for some time, counsel for the petitioner prays for withdrawal of the instant case,” Justice Sandeep Moudgil recorded in his orders while allowing Rajvanshi to withdraw his petition. However, liberty was given to the officer to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal, if required. The state govt did not take any punitive or administrative action against 1997 batch IFS Rajavanshi in the matter. The officer already retired from the service. In the ministry’s inquiry report, Rajavanshi was named in plantation-related irregularities in Hissar and Jhajjar, along with 3 other senior IFS officers. In his plea, filed in 2017, Rajavanshi sought directions for quashing the inquiry report dated December 8, 2010, and all consequential proceedings for being violative of the provisions of the All-India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1969, as the ministry had no jurisdiction under the rules to conduct an inquiry in the matter. Directions were also sought for quashing the letter dated March 1, 2012, which was written in pursuance of the inquiry report. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, in its inquiry report dated December 8, 2010, indicted the then chief minister’s office for “removing Chaturvedi from the scene” upon the detection of any forest scam by him. The ministry indicted the CM’s office, various state officials and politicians in the multi-crore scams exposed by Chaturvedi. The report also passed strictures against the state for fabricating documents and harassing the officer. Even the CBI found the case “worthy” of an independent probe but expressed its inability to register a case without notification from the Haryana govt. The report was prepared by a 2-member panel of the Union govt after receiving representations from Chaturvedi. In the same case, the President ordered the chargesheet issued by the Hooda govt against the officer to be dropped. Following the controversy, the centre also allowed Chaturvedi’s plea to shift his cadre from Haryana to Uttarakhand. Importantly, the Supreme Court is already seized of a petition regarding the validity of the ministry’s inquiry report on the issue. With the withdrawal of the petition filed by Rajavanshi, all the matters pertaining to Chaturvedi came to an end in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
