DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand High Court has set aside an order by chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which transferred the case of Magsaysay awardee 2002 batch Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi to Delhi bench of the tribunal.
The division bench of Chief Justice R S Chauhan and N S Dhanik while setting aside the order by CAT chairman L Narsimha Reddy stated that the reasoning contained in the order dated December 4, 2020 is “legally unsustainable.” Chaturvedi is currently posted as chief conservator of forests in the research wing of Uttarakhand forest department in Haldwani.
The court said: “Since the petitioner is presently posted as Chief Conservator of Forest (Working Plan), Haldwani, District Nainital, Uttarakhand, on every date of hearing, it is the petitioner who would be required to travel from Haldwani to New Delhi. His travelling would not only entail financial expenditure, but also require time and energy.”
The bench added, “It will also necessitate that the petitioner should take leave from his work, thereby, preventing him from discharging his official duties. Travelling between such long distances will also affect his physical health, and psychological makeup.”