The Government of Uttarakhand has been forced to go on the back foot over the recent case of the transfer of IFS officer Rahul as Director of Rajaji National Park. The Dhami government was forced to reconsider its move and chose to cancel Rahul’s posting as Director of the Rajaji National Park, in view of an ongoing inquiry against him regarding the Pakhro Tiger Safari case when he was the Director of Corbett National Park.
The government has recently informed the Supreme Court through its counsel that the transfer of Rahul as Director of Rajaji National Park had been cancelled. The Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Vishwanathan, however, expressed strong objection to the Chief Minister’s order approving the appointment of Rahul as the Director of Rajaji Tiger Reserve. The court even reprimanded the CM and the Chief Secretary during the hearing and dismissed the petition in view of the fact that the transfer had been cancelled yesterday. Hence, Rahul has been transferred out of Rajaji Park in less than a month of him being posted as Director.
Officer Rahul is currently facing inquiries regarding his alleged role in the Pakhro Tiger Safari “scam” while he was posted as Director of Corbett Tiger Reserve. A file had been moved around a month ago proposing his transfer as Director of Rajaji National Park. However, on July 19th, the Principal Secretary of Forests, Mr. R K Sudhanshu raised an objection to the posting in view of the fact that disciplinary proceedings against Rahul are pending. He had also noted Rahul was facing inquiry with respect to the Pakhro scam.
Several sources claim that the Forest Minister, Mr. Subodh Uniyal, was also not in favour of posting Rahul as Director, Rajaji, in view of the inquiry against him. However, the Chief Minister had allegedly overruled the objections raised by both and had ordered that Rahul be posted as the new Director, Rajaji.
Several sources also claimed that the CM’s office had proposed to give additional charge as Director Rajaji National Park to IFS Officer Dharam Singh Meena. Before the controversy could die down, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court directly, the hearing of which was held today. In view of the developments, the government reconsidered its decision and cancelled the appointment of Rahul as Director Rajaji yesterday and posted him back as Chief Conservator of Forests, Monitoring, Evaluation, IT and Modernisation, at Forest Headquarters, Dehradun, a charge which was held by him prior to his posting as Director Rajaji Park.
The appointment of the officer has affected the trust among the stakeholders involved in wildlife conservation. The report also observes that the matter of irregularities in Corbett Tiger Reserve is still pending in the Supreme Court, as are disciplinary proceedings against the officer. The case is also being investigated by the CBI. Many believe that the Uttarakhand Government, knowing that proceedings against the officer are underway and the disciplinary proceedings have still not been completed, should not have appointed the controversial IFS officer as the Director of a National Park.
