In one of his first acts as the Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal on Monday wrote to union environment Minister Prakash Javadekar requesting the transfer of Indian Forest Services officer and whistleblower Sanjiv Chaturvedi, to be his Officer on Special Duty.

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Kejriwal has written, "The services of Sanjiv Chaturvedi... are urgently required to work as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the chief minister's Office, Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi... I would be highly obliged if you could kindly personally look into the matter and get the requisite orders issued at the earliest."

Chaturvedi is currently on central deputation as the deputy secretary at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was previously Chief Vigilance Officer and had unearthed cases of corruption and led to banned drugs, supplied to the on-campus pharmacy, being seized by the police.

The NDA government then, controversially, removed him from the post of CVO.

There is now much suspense in whether the transfer will be approved, Javadekar will have to forward Kejriwal's letter to the Cabinet Committee of Appointments, which is chaired by the prime minister and the home minister.

Previously, Chaturvedi had requested a transfer from him parent Haryana cadre to Uttarakhand, alleging harassment from the Haryana government. This request was denied by the PMO, which sent his proposal back to square one. Chaturvedi's work in Haryana had brought into the open cases of corruption in planting projects in Hissar and Jhajjar, involving officials and ministers in the then Congress state government. The investigation had led to the suspension of nine officers. Chaturvedi's allegations of harassment were confirmed by the MOEF which had recommended a CBI probe into the matter.

Chaturvedi, recently petitioned the Delhi Central Administrative Tribunal, stating that the Centre was illegally obstructing his transfer.

It remains to be seen what the Centre's decision in the present case will be. Previously, AAP had supported Chaturvedi when he was removed from the post of CVO from AIIMS by former union health minister Harsh Vardhan. Recently, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had publicly praised Chaturvedi and his work.