PM-led Committee approves whistleblower Sanjiv Chaturvedi's change of cadre

Cabinet panel decision after CAT rap

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, has reversed its order and permitted a change of cadre for whistle-blower and Magsaysay award winner Sanjiv Chaturvedi.

The decision of the committee comes after the Central Administrative Tribunal quashed its earlier orders, which had sent Chaturvedi’s case for deputation back to square one.

The tribunal had ordered the appointments committee to take a decision on merits of the case within two months, saying it prima facie found evidence favouring Chaturvedi’s change of cadre. But the cabinet committee had failed to take a decision within the stipulated time.

Chaturvedi consequently sent a legal notice for contempt of court to the government. Within a week of the notice, the PM-led committee passed a three-line order approving Chaturvedi’s shift to Uttarakhand.

But at the same time, before the Delhi High Court, the government has defended its decision to take away work from Chaturvedi, who continues to be on deputation at AIIMS without much work after the post of chief vigilance officer was taken from him.

Chaturvedi, a forest service officer of the Haryana cadre, had asked for a change of cadre to Uttarakhand in 2012 after repeated “harassment” in his parent state.

By April 2014, Haryana and Uttarakhand had given their approval for a cadre change. By July 2014, the environment ministry, which regulates the Indian Forest Service, too acknowledged the threat to Chaturvedi and approved his move to Uttarakhand.

But by August 2014, Chaturvedi — working on deputation at AIIMS as the anti-graft officer — had gotten in to trouble with the government over some corruption cases he was investigating. He was removed from the post after a request from J P Nadda, then a senior BJP leader who later became the health minister.

In January 2015, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet sent the proposal back to the environment ministry, ordering that Chaturvedi seek clearances from the state afresh. Cadre change regulations do not permit such a process.

In February 2015, Chaturvedi pleaded against the decision before the central administrative tribunal, the first court of appeal of central services officers on employment related issues. The court immediately stayed the orders of the cabinet committee. In May 2015, it quashed the cabinet committee’s orders while passing severe strictures, asking the PM-led panel to take a final decision within two months.

When the cabinet committee had not decided even after three months, Chaturvedi served a notice to the government for alleged contempt of court, on August 8. On August 12, the appointments committee passed the orders for the change of Chaturvedi’s cadre from Haryana to Uttarakhand.