Haryana Forestry scam case is a multi-crore fake plantation scam allegedly involving

Bhupinder Singh Hooda Bhupinder Singh Hooda (born 15 September 1947) is an Indian National Congress politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Legislative Assembly. He also served as the Chief Minister of Haryana from 2005 to 2014. When he b ...

Kiran Chaudhary Kiran Choudhary (born 5 June 1955) is an Indian National Congress politician. As the concerned minister she is involved in the Haryana Forestry scam case which is a multi-crore fake plantation scam. She is a MLA from Tosham Vidhan Sabha constit ...

and others where government money was

embezzled Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

. In 2009, this scam was exposed by the whistleblower,

Sanjiv Chaturvedi Sanjiv Chaturvedi (born 21 December 1974) is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer posted as Chief Conservator of Forest (Research) at Haldwani in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Chaturvedi was a Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at AIIMS, New ...

,Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda may face CBI heat over forest scams

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

. 11 Jan 2012.

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

-winnerCentres appraisal rating for magsaysay award winning civil servant zero Sanjiv haturvedi

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

Indian Forest Service The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. The other two All India Services being the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. It was constituted in the year 1966 und ...

officer with then Government of Haryana, who filed a case in September 2012 to seek Supreme Court's instructions to CBI to investigate the case. Earlier, Haryana Government had suspended him in 2007 for acting against illegal felling of trees and poaching in

Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as Seonsar Forest, is situated in Kaithal district of Haryana State, India. It is spread over an area of . Kalesar National Park, Morni Hills and Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary are respectively first, se ...

, but his suspension was revoked by the President in 2008 and the chargesheet was overturned in 2011 on an appeal against the decision of Haryana government. An inquiry committee of the Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) found Chaturvedi's allegations against Haryana government true, preferred an inquiry by Central Vigilance Commission and by CBI into dubious role of certain highly placed politicians and civil servants. CBI, in its reply to CVC, found Chaturvedi's allegations against then Haryana Government creditable enough for an independent inquiry. As per the rules, CBI can not undertake suo motu investigation, only state government, high court or supreme court can ask CBI for it. There are a total of 6 CBI cases and several other vigilance department investigations against Hooda underway.Hooda under investigation by CBI in several cases

Navbharat Times ''Navbharat Times'' (NBT) a Hindi newspaper distributed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Kanpur. It is from the stable of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL), which also publishes other dailies including ''The Times of India'', ''The Economic Tim ...

, 13 Mar 2018.

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

is investigating several scams, mostly related to illegal land grab, that took place during his rule in Haryana. These investigations include the Gurugram-Manesar IMT land scam, Robert Vadra DLF land grab scam, Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam, Sonepat-Kharkhoda IMT land scam case,

Garhi Sampla Uddar Gagan land scam Rohtak-Garhi Sampla Uddar Gagan Model Township land grab case pertains to illegal acquisition and licensing of 850.88 acres land under Bhupinder Singh Hooda's rule as the Chief Minister of Haryana. Hooda acquired land from illiterate poor farme ...

, Panchkula-HUDA Industrial plots allotment scam, AJL-National Herald Panchkula land grab scam and Haryana Raxil drug purchase scam. He has been already

chargesheet In policing on the Indian subcontinent, a chargesheet is prepared after First Information Reports (FIRs), and charges an individual for (some or all of) the crimes specified in those FIR(s). Once the charge sheet has been submitted to a court ...

ed in the Manesar-Gurugram land scam, while other cases are still under investigation (c. March 2018).CBI to probe two more Hooda govt land deals
The Tribune, 14 March 2018.

Details

Modus of scam

While posted at Fatehbad, the Forests officer

accused the Congress MLA Prahlad Singh Gillakhera of corruption in a herbal park establishment project. He alleged that Gillakhera's relatives were buying rare trees for their personal gardens with the taxpayers' money.In Haryana, you are punished if you fight corruption!
/ref>A clean slate for hounded officer
/ref> Soon after his suspension, the Haryana Forest Department had started prosecution against the contractors, based on earlier reports filed by him. However, after the NGO Ekta Parishad moved against the accused in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in April 2008, the Hooda Government protected the violators. Haryana government rejected MoEF's request in 2012 to initiate a CBI inquiry against the forestry scam. Instead Haryana Government issued another charge sheet against Chaturvedi in August 2012, which too was overturned by the President of India. Haryana administration filed a counter case in the High Court to seek cancellation of the presidential order favoring Chaturvedi and also against the formation of MoEF's earlier inquiry committee on this scam on the basis of ultra vires (beyond the powers of President and MoEF). Chaturvedi filed a case in the Supreme Court in September 2012 asking for the CBI inquiry against this scam, where it is still pending (c. March 2018). Haryana Forestry Scam: Whistleblower IFS Officer Gets Relief From SC
LiveLaw.in, 22 Feb 2018. Whistle blower, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, harassed by the then UPA administration in several ways,IB says diligent officer

.Outstanding rating of the officer

. which forced him to move the

Uttarakhand High Court The Uttarakhand High Court is the High Court of the state of Uttarakhand in India. The building of Uttarakhand High Court was constructed by Santoni MacDonald in 1900. The Uttarakhand State was carved out from the State of Uttar Pradesh on ...

,Officer petitions HC

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

.Puzzling decision by HC

.Sanjiv Chaturvedi-whistleblower officer plea
The Wire. and involve Prime Minister's office.PMO steps into resolve row over whistleblower

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

.RTI reveals Modi Called Health Minister to discuss Whistleblower Sanjov Chaturvedi
The Wire.

Current status: Supreme Court

The case is currently in the Supreme Court.

References

{{Scams and confidence tricks High Courts of India cases Cover-ups Criminal investigation Corruption in India Lawsuits Trials in India Corruption in Haryana Supreme Court of India cases Political corruption in India Indian National Congress of Haryana 2009 scandals 2010s scandals 2009 in Indian law

Details

Modus of scam

Current status: Supreme Court

See also

References