Haryana IFS officer who took on politicians, bureaucrats head-on

Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 29

For nearly a decade, the 2002 batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, Sanjeev Chaturvedi, remained involved in fighting corruption and exposing land and wood mafia plundering Haryana’s environment.

For many months at a stretch, he would go underground after receiving threats from those he would expose. Facing frequent transfers and censure, he continued fighting even when he was suspended. The Tribune has been highlighting his crusade against corruption and exposed the injustice meted out to him time and again.

The recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2015, Chaturvedi took the government head-on and suffered emotional and psychological trauma on more than one occasion. Ignored as being an overzealous whistleblower, his claim to fame came in 2013 with the President quashing a chargesheet against him by the state government. The state government held him responsible for “poor survival” of trees planted during his tenure as the Jhajjar divisional forest officer, in a rare gesture the President quashed the chargesheet. Thereafter, he was taken to the Centre on deputation and appointed Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the AIIMS.

In its release, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) has termed Chaturvedi “being recognised for his exemplary integrity, courage and tenacity in uncompromisingly exposing and painstakingly investigating corruption in public office, and his resolute crafting of programme and system improvements to ensure that government honourably serves the people of India”.

After graduating from the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (NIT Allahabad) in electrical engineering, Chaturvedi took the IFS exam and ranked second. After being allotted the Haryana cadre, he got his first posting in Kurukshetra where he exposed corruption in the construction of the Hansi Butana canal. He also took on local MLA Prahlad Singh Gillakhera who was purchasing rare trees for his home garden.

In 2013, The Tribune highlighted how some senior bureaucrats were being protected by making Chaturvedi a scapegoat. It pertained to illegal construction of two nullahs in Protected Forest and Reserve Forest areas in Kurukshetra district, allegedly at the instance of district administration there, MK Jiwrajka, Member Secretary Central Empowered Committee (CEC) (constituted by the Supreme Court) wrote to the Haryana Chief Secretary saying: “The matter may please be got inquired into and a report in the matter may please be sent to the CEC.” Though Chaturvedi had exposed the scam, he was hauled up for the “exposure”.

Chaturvedi, who had got used to getting into trouble for exposing the truth, got very anxious and scared in 2009 when he was named in the case pertaining to the death of Sanjeev Tomar, another Haryana forest range officer. Tomar was found dead after anti-corruption charges were initiated against him. But Chaturvedi did not yield to the pressure and fought. Subsequently, following an investigation, Chaturvedi got a clean chit.

As AIIMS CVO for almost two years, he unearthed various irregularities and initiated actions in around 200 cases. However, he was removed from the post by former Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. After AAP came to power in Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to appoint Chaturvedi as the chief of anti-corruption bureau and later to be posted to his office as Officer on Special Duty. However, this did not happen.

Chaturvedi is now involved in a legal battle to get his cadre changed from Haryana to Uttarakhand as he feels that he has been targeted by Haryana politicians and bureaucrats and, therefore, cannot return to the state after his Central deputation.