By IANS,
New Delhi : Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Friday said his ministry is examining the issue of misuse of forest funds by Haryana and will take a decision on it soon.
The minister’s announcement comes after an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, wrote to the ministry seeking a CBI enquiry into an alleged forest scam in the state. In January this year, the whistleblower was formally charged by the state government, which was President Pratibha Patil later revoked based on a enquiry.
“The charge sheet against him (Chaturvedi) was quashed. As far as decision on misuse of funds is concerned, I am still examining it and will soon arrive at a decision,” Ramesh told reporters here.
Chaturvedi in his letter to the ministry last month alleged he continued to be harassed by “the powerful vested interests” whose “misdeeds” he had exposed.
He asked the ministry to refer the case to CBI without any further delay as per recommendation of the enquiry committee.
He wrote to the ministry after Haryana rejected the findings of the centre-appointed enquiry committee and asked the environment ministry to take a fresh look at the allegation levelled by Chaturvedi against some very important functionaries in the state government.
A two-member panel set up by the union ministry of environment and forests to probe irregularities and violations of the environmental laws in Haryana had recommended a CBI probe into the matter and indicted the Chief Minister’s Office, cabinet minister Kiran Chaudhary and some senior state government officers for the “harassment” of Chaturvedi.
The two-member panel found that harassment of Chaturvedi included frequent transfers — 12 in five years, suspension and fabricated charge sheet for exposing large-scale irregularities in various projects.
The charge sheet against the whistle blower was revoked by President Pratibha Patil on Jan 19 based on the panel’s report against senior politicians and more than half a dozen bureaucrats.