A forest official Vinod Kumar accused senior SK Gulati of misusing his position. (Representational)
Two senior forest officers in Haryana have accused the state's additional chief secretary of coercing them to mark an area as non-forest land so that a private company can carry out construction there.
In a letter to the principal chief conservator of forests PP Bhojvaid on July 5, one of the forest officials Vinod Kumar, has accused SK Gulati, the additional chief secretary of forest and wildlife, of forcing him to consider areas marked certain areas as non-forest and allegedly threatening him with suspension and serious consequences if he did not comply with his directions.
Referring to a meeting with Mr Gulati at Van Bhawan in Panchkula on June 22, Mr Kumar, in his letter, wrote: "The ACS insisted me to write that Bharti realtor land in Sarai Khwaja, Faridabad, was not a forest as per 1980 status on the basis of Survey of India (SoI) map... I did not agree, he was furious over this and threatened me with dire consequences... It is pertinent to mention that matter regarding this case is sub-judice with National Green Tribunal and asking for such biased report by oral order without giving time to department is beyond my comprehension," said the letter.
In a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the second official, Renjintha MH, also has made similar charges. "I was abused with words like 'bloody fool', being 'crooked' by Mr. Gulati over the phone. I was also told that I would not be 'spared' and 'would be made to pay'," she said.
However, when NDTV spoke with the ACS Mr Gulati, he claimed, the move is within the law and that officers in the forest department were holding the government to ransom and not allowing any development in this region. He said the officers are perturbed because the move shuts the shop for all corrupt practices underway in giving clearances.
In a statement, Bharti Land told NDTV, "It is unfortunate that a systematic campaign is being run by select few with vested interests and ulterior motives against the authorities, which also aims at tarnishing our image as a law abiding company."