Sanjeev Chaturvedi, a renowned Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer from Uttarakhand and recipient of the Magsaysay Award, has filed criminal charges against Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan, India's top bureaucrat, in a major escalation of a long-running bureaucratic dispute.
Chaturvedi has accused Somanathan of submitting a false affidavit and making defamatory remarks in court. He is seeking strict criminal action from the Nainital High Court, which is scheduled to hear the petition on September 16. The legal dispute is rooted in a controversy from Chaturvedi’s time as the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. He started a number of well-known corruption investigations during his time there, which resulted in several legal challenges.
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) ordered the production of documents pertaining to these corruption cases at AIIMS in February 2023. In May 2023, CAT filed a contempt action against the Union Health Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary, alleging that they had failed to comply with this order.
It is against this context of alleged non-adherence to tribunal orders that Chaturvedi has brought his new legal challenge to the High Court.
Chaturvedi has not only labelled the writ petition filed by the Cabinet Secretary as "baseless" but has also strongly objected to the allegations made within it. To support his claims, he presented a 2014 file note to the court from then-Union Health Secretary Love Verma and Health Ministry CVO Vishwas Mehta. The document reportedly commended Chaturvedi’s integrity and dedication as "outstanding".
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Commenting on the issue, Chaturvedi said, "It is deeply unfortunate that the petition filed by the country’s Cabinet Secretary contains baseless and defamatory allegations."
He further stated, "The anti-corruption actions taken during my tenure were consistently affirmed in writing by top officials of the Health Ministry, confirming the integrity and merit of my work."
The case highlights the ongoing tension between a decorated officer known for his anti-corruption efforts and the top levels of the bureaucracy, setting the stage for a highly anticipated legal battle in the coming weeks.
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