Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of Haryana cadre, M L Rajavanshi, withdrew his petition from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In the plea, he had sought directions to quash the inquiry findings of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), which had indicted several political leaders, bureaucrats, and forest officials for harassing whistleblower 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 stated in his order while allowing Rajavanshi to withdraw the petition. However, liberty was granted to the officer to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal, if required.
The state government did not take any punitive or administrative action against Rajavanshi, a 1997-batch IFS officer, in this issue. The officer has already retired from service.
In the ministry’s inquiry findings, Rajavanshi was named in irregularities related to plantation in Hisar and Jhajjar, Three other senior IFS officers were also mention in the inquiry reports.
In his petition, which was filed in 2017, Rajavanshi had sought directions to quash the probe report dated December 8, 2010, and all consequential proceedings. He argued that the action violated the provisions of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, claiming the ministry had no jurisdiction to conduct the investigation.
He had also sought directions to quash the letter dated March 1, 2012, which was issued in pursuance of the inquiry report.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, in its inquiry findings dated December 8, 2010, had indicted the then Chief Minister’s Office for “removing Chaturvedi from the scene” whenever he detected any forest scam.
The report indicted the Chief Minister’s Office, several state officials, and political leaders in the multi-crore scams exposed by Chaturvedi. It also passed strictures against the state for fabricating documents and harassing the officer.
Even the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found the case “worthy” of an independent investigation but expressed its inability to register a case without a formal notification from the Haryana government. The report was prepared by a two-member committee of the Union government after receiving representations from Chaturvedi. In the same case, the President also ordered the chargesheet issued by the Hooda government against Chaturvedi to be dropped.
After the controversy, the Central government also allowed Chaturvedi’s petition to change his cadre from Haryana to Uttarakhand.
Importantly, the Supreme Court (SC) is already hearing a plea challenging the validity of the ministry’s inquiry findings. With the withdrawal of Rajavanshi’s plea, all matters related to Chaturvedi have now come to an end in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
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