A letter written purportedly by the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden SS Sharma to the Corbett tiger reserve director in 2011 has raised serious questions. In the letter (number 1436/6-1) Sharma states he believes that notorious tiger poachers Priya, Balku and other Bawaria poachers are innocent in a tiger poaching case wherein they had complained of being harassed by department officials.
The letter also states that Sharma had instructed the anti-poaching cell director SK Dutt to focus on drafting his (Sharma’s) mail and not on catching poachers. Citing this and another letter purportedly written to the Corbett director by Sharma in 2013 seeking sympathetic treatment to poacher Dariya Bawaria, the PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi has complained to the chief secretary Subhash Kumar. She has requested that Sharma be temporarily removed from the post of PCCF and chief wildlife warden till an impartial inquiry into the serious allegations against him is completed.
Earlier this month, while hearing on the PIl filed by Maulekhi in the Uttarakhand High Court regarding anomalies in management of Corbett tiger reserve and in the workings of the Forest Department, the HC bench comprising chief justice Barin Ghosh and justice VK Bist had requested that the letter written by a senior forest officer seeking action from Sharma on poaching cases be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister.
The HC had requested the CM to take a decision on the note to be prepared on this case by the principal secretary, Forests after an inquiry. Maulekhi has requested the chief secretary Subhash Kumar to ensure that Sharma is removed from the post of the PCCF and chief wildlife warden till the completion of this inquiry in order to prevent him from influencing the inquiry in any way.
According to Maulekhi, letters written by Sharma to the Corbett director about his meetings with notorious poachers and other questionable contents of the letters make it imperative that he be removed temporarily from his post to ensure an impartial enquiry. This correspondent tried to contact Sharma on the phone to get his view on the allegations but the PCCF did not respond.