A whistleblower officer who laid bare a multi-crore eco-tourism scandal in Uttarakhand has been abruptly transferred, fuelling accusations that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s anti-corruption rhetoric is hollow.
Sanjiv Chaturvedi, a decorated Indian Forest Service officer known nationally for exposing scams at great personal cost, was moved out of his role as Chief Conservator of Forests (Working Plan) just a day after an investigative report highlighted how his findings indicted senior officials for corruption and illegal construction inside protected forests.
The transfer order, issued on August 25, reassigns Chaturvedi to the Uttarakhand Forestry Training Academy in Haldwani, a non-operational posting that sidelines him from mainstream governance. The move came despite his December 2024 report that alleged money laundering, inflated bills, and illegal diversion of funds amounting to over ₹1.6 crore.
Chaturvedi’s report pointed to senior officer Vinay Kumar Bhargav as responsible for unauthorised eco-hut construction within the Khaliya Reserve Forest in Munsiyari, one of the Himalayan region’s most fragile zones. He documented how public money was siphoned through a private firm without tendering, revenues were diverted to a society that did not legally exist, and fake records inflated fire-line works from 14.6 kilometres to 90 kilometres.
Despite the gravity of these allegations, the state’s response was limited to a show-cause notice. When pressed in an on-record conversation by The Probe on 21 August, Uttarakhand Principal Secretary R.K. Sudhanshu sought to downplay the inaction, countering: “Suppose somebody writes a letter to the government mentioning that an FIR should be registered, tell me whether an FIR should be registered immediately?”
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Sudhanshu further questioned Chaturvedi’s decision to escalate the matter to the Centre after months of state inaction: “Can he send a letter to the government of India directly? Is he authorised to send a letter directly to the government of India?”
Four days later, the officer was indeed shifted, confirming prior reports that he was to be shunted out.
The development has cast fresh doubt on Dhami’s much-publicised promises of a “corruption-free Uttarakhand.” As recently as July, the Chief Minister had declared a “zero-tolerance policy” against graft and exam malpractice, claiming his government was restoring youth faith in governance.
Chaturvedi, however, has a long record of being penalised for integrity. In Haryana, he was transferred a dozen times in five years for exposing scams before being awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service. In Uttarakhand too, he has spent nine years in largely marginal postings, yet managed to uncover corruption repeatedly.
Environmentalists warn that the eco-tourism scam also carries severe ecological risks, given that Munsiyari is landslide-prone. Permanent concrete structures built in violation of the Forest Conservation Act could destabilise fragile slopes, putting local communities in danger.
With the government yet to register an FIR or initiate punitive action against those indicted, questions now centre on whether Dhami’s administration is protecting the guilty while punishing the messenger.
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