DEHRADUN: The Nainital High Court has issued contempt notices to three senior state officials, including the Principal Secretary, Environment and Forest, over the alleged violation of its interim order restraining the transfer of an Indian Forest Service officer.
A single bench of Justice Pankaj Purohit took note of the civil contempt plea filed by Pankaj Kumar, IFS 2009, presently posted as Conservator of Forests and Director, Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Gopeshwar, Chamoli.
The notices have been issued to Ramesh Kumar Sudhanshu, Principal Secretary, Environment and Forest; Mukesh Kumar Rai, Joint Secretary, Environment and Forest; and Ranjan Kumar Mishra, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force.
Kumar had earlier approached the High Court through a writ petition challenging what he described as a premature administrative transfer.
In that matter, a Division Bench had granted him interim protection and directed that “no movement order shall be issued”.
The protection was later continued through subsequent interim orders.
Despite the court’s restraint, the petitioner alleged, the Forest Department issued a fresh transfer order on April 13, 2026, moving him to the post of Conservator of Forests, Kumaon South, Nainital.
The order also gave him additional charge as Regional Manager of the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation.
According to the contempt petition, the fresh transfer order was issued in clear disregard of the High Court’s binding directions.
The petitioner claimed that he submitted representations to the state authorities, requesting them to take note of the subsisting judicial orders and withdraw the transfer order.
However, no corrective action was taken, prompting him to invoke Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocates Abhijay Negi, Snigdha Tiwari and Ayush Pokhriyal submitted that the action amounted to wilful disobedience of the court’s interim protection.
Taking cognisance of the allegations, Justice Purohit issued show-cause notices to the three officials, asking them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.