Twitter
Advertisement

Furnish report on workplace harassment case: HC tells IB

HC further noted that IB cannot stonewall RTI requests indiscriminately and has to make information pertaining to corruption and human rights violation available

Latest News
article-main
Sanjiv Chaturvedi
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

In what can be deemed victory of a lone man's fight against the system, the Delhi High Court (HC) has instructed the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to provide information sought by Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, after the latter put up a long legal fight to obtain his records.

The HC quashed IB's writ petition for not making available Chaturvedi's "confidential" report and had sought exemption from providing the report under Right to Information Act, as sought by Chaturvedi. It also upheld Central Information Commission's (CIC) order and said that the report pertained to issues of corruption and human rights violation as faced by Chaturvedi and should be supplied to him.

The HC states, "There appears to be truth in contention of Chaturvedi regarding alleged harassment meted out to him by the Haryana government. His request for change of cadre from Haryana to Uttarakhand merits consideration."

HC further noted that IB cannot stonewall RTI requests indiscriminately and has to make information pertaining to corruption and human rights violation available. In 2014, after Chaturvedi started exposing alleged corruption cases in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, in the capacity of Central Vigilance Officer, the central government has asked the IB to submit a report on Chaturvedi.

In December 2015, Chaturvedi filed an RTI with Ministry of Environment and Forests seeking documents on his deputation and transfer including the IB report. MoEF declined to provide the report, citing that IB was exempt from the ambit of RTI.

Chaturvedi challenged the refusal in the CIC in 2016, which passed an order in his favour. IB later took the case to the HC in 2016. Judgement was pronounced on August 23, 2017, in favour of Chaturvedi.

Chaturvedi has exposed corruption cases of illicit poaching and felling of trees, construction of a government-run herbal park on private land, a scam of a fake plantation in Jhajjar running into up to Rs 15 crores among others.

THE CRUSADER

  • An IFS officer of 2002 batch, Chaturvedi exposed a bevy of alleged corruption cases in Haryana. He has also filed 200 cases of corruption in AIIMS.
     
  • He faced twelve transfers in five years, poor appraisal reports, two charge-sheets for dismissal from services and four interventions from the President as he faced harassment.
Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement