New Delhi Sept 4 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday reprimanded the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami for his decision to appoint Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Rahul as Director of Rajaji Tiger Reserve even though there are allegations against him of illegal tree cutting during his posting at Corbett Tiger Reserve.
The same officer was previously removed from Corbett Tiger Reserve over allegations of illegal tree-cutting.
A bench comprising Justice B R Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice K V Viswanathan took strong exception to the Chief Minister’s actions.
The Court emphasized the importance of the public trust doctrine.
The Court said, “We are not in a feudal era jahan jo bhi raja bole wo karo (We are not in a feudal era where whatever the king says…)
At least there should have been some application of mind with reasons in writing when he differed with his minister and Chief Secretary, the court said.
“Just because he is the Chief Minister, he can do anything? Either that officer should be exonerated or the departmental proceedings dropped. There is something called public trust doctrine,” the Court remarked.
Senior Advocate A N S Nadkarni, representing the State government, defended the Chief Minister’s decision, arguing that the Chief Minister had the discretion to make such appointments.
Hearing this, the Bench considered directing the Chief Minister to file an affidavit explaining his decision.
But after Nadkarni’s assurance to provide a detailed explanation during the next hearing, the Bench agreed not to record this in its order.
The Court’s remarks came after a report was filed by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which was constituted by the Supreme Court to oversee forest-related matters.
According to the report, the appointment of the officer prima facie did not instil confidence in the stakeholders involved in wildlife conservation.
The report said that the matter of irregularities in the Corbett Tiger Reserve is still under consideration by the apex court and that disciplinary proceedings against the officer are still pending.
It further highlighted that the matter is also under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and that the State, despite being aware of this, has not yet finalized the disciplinary proceedings and instead appointed him as Director at Rajaji Tiger Reserve.
