The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the State Government of actively supporting tainted and corrupt officials who are thriving in the State.
Citing the case of the principal chief conservator of forests, SS Sharma who has been accused of sympathising with notorious tiger poachers and not taking action on information related to poaching and other wildlife crimes, leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Ajay Bhatt has said that the State Government should have taken immediate action in this case in stead of directing yet another inquiry into the allegations.
The leader of Opposition said, “Tainted and corrupt officials are at the helm of affairs in the State with the government protecting and encouraging such officials.
“I had prominently raised the issue of the serious allegations leveled at the PCCF. The State Government should have taken immediate action and removed him from the post. However, the State Government appears to be interested more in encouraging the corrupt,” he said.
It will be recalled that People for Animals, Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi had filed a PIl in the Uttarakhand High Court on issues including the allegations leveled at Sharma.
During his tenure as the chief wildlife warden, Sharma had been accused of sympathetic treatment to notorious tiger poachers and ignoring information given to
him by additional PCCF and the then chief of the anti poaching cell SK Dutt on about 100 cases related to poaching and other wildlife crimes.
The High Court had directed the principal secretary, Forests to inquire and prepare a note on this, based on which a decision was left to the discretion of the Chief Minister.
The note prepared by the State administration in June this year had stated that allegations made against Sharma did not appear baseless.
The note had recommended that it would be proper to await order of the CM on conducting a CBCID inquiry of the allegations as they are of a criminal nature. It was also recommended that he should be attached to the administration to facilitate a fair and transparent inquiry.
However, recently, the CM ordered the additional chief secretary and Forest and Rural Development Commissioner S Raju to conduct another inquiry into the allegations.
While Sharma maintains that the allegations are baseless and that the inquiry would reveal the truth, Maulekhi has lambasted the State Government. She said, “Instead of taking action on the note already prepared by the State administration, the CM has ordered another inquiry which appears to be intended at delaying action.
The CM and Forest Minister are giving Sharma more time to continue at the helm of affairs and tamper with evidence against him inspite of the seriousness of the allegations leveled at him.”