In a serious development that echoes the Corbett construction scandal, senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Vinay Bhargav has been served a show-cause notice over alleged financial misconduct and illegal construction in the ecologically sensitive Munsyari region of Uttarakhand.
Bhargav, currently serving as Conservator of Forests (Western Circle), is under scrutiny for authorising permanent concrete eco-huts, a growth center, and a dormitory at 8,000 feet altitude in the Khaliya Reserved Forest during his tenure as DFO, Pithoragarh division. These structures were allegedly built in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, without mandatory approvals from the Union Ministry.
The matter came to light in 2024 during a routine departmental review, prompting a probe led by Chief Conservator of Forests (Working Plan) Sanjiv Chaturvedi. His detailed investigation, conducted between August and December 2024, culminated in a two-part, 700-page report submitted to the then Head of Forest Force, Dhananjai Mohan.
Chaturvedi’s findings were damning. He described the construction as a “criminal act” under Section 3A of the Forest Conservation Act and flagged suspected embezzlement of ₹1.63 crore. Alarmingly, he highlighted that 70% of the tourism revenue from these eco-huts was diverted to a local society, Munsyari Eco Vikas Samiti, without any government sanction. The society was registered only after an MoU had already been signed.
The report also exposed irregularities in procurement through shell entities and a highly questionable audit process. “The audit of four financial years was claimed to be completed in just one day by a firm located thousands of kilometres away in Jaisalmer,” Chaturvedi noted.
Citing possible violations of the Forest Conservation Act, Prevention of Corruption Act, Indian Penal Code, and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Chaturvedi recommended a probe by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate. State-level proceedings were then initiated, and earlier this month, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami approved a formal investigation.
Bhargav, who had earlier faced similar allegations during his 2015 posting in Narendranagar but was let off citing “lack of experience,” now has 15 days to respond to the findings, as per a directive issued by Principal Secretary (Forests) R. Sudhanshu.
