DEHRADUN: Magsaysay Award winner Indian Forest Services officer known for his crusade against corruption, Sanjiv Chaturvedi has written a letter to the chairperson of Lokpal requesting to allow him to serve in investigation wing of the institution.
The letter written by Sanjiv Chaturvedi, a 2002 batch IFS officer, cites various cases and orders by courts President of India in his favour.
The officer in his letter stated that all the requirements for the said deputation, are fulfilled, regarding completion of cooling-off period of three years, as on August 29, 2019, and there being a vacancy in Central Deputation Reserve in my cadre.
"Further under Article 312 of Constitution of India, as a member of All India Services, it is my constitutional right/duty to serve under Union of India. Apart from anti-corruption actions taken by me, I have worked with utmost honesty and sincerity, in public service, for past 17 years, in the face of extreme hardship and have no immovable property/personal vehicle, yet," said Chaturvedi in his 18-page letter.
The officer also mentioned many cases taken up by him serving in Haryana, as chief vigilance officer of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi along with serving at many other positions.
The letter is said to have caused a stir in Delhi given the credentials of the officer.
He further asserted in the letter that as can be confirmed from simple analysis of data of corruption cases of past two decades, very rarely, corruption cases are registered and followed against ruling establishment.
He further wrote, "In this regard, I humbly submit that both during my Haryana cadre tenure and Central Deputation tenure, I worked fearlessly, against corruption cases of persons close to/belonging to ruling elite, without yielding to relentless and ruthless persecution in any manner and therefore, I feel that I would be able to discharge my duties, to the best of my ability in achieving the objectives of this esteemed institution regarding 'addressing concerns and aspirations of the citizens of India for clean governance' and for 'eradicating corruption in public life', as set out on home page of Lokpal website."
At present, he is posted as a conservator of forests in the research wing of Uttarakhand forest department in Haldwani city.
In the letter he highlighted that a record number of four Presidential orders were passed in his favour (from Year 2008- 2014) setting aside various vindictive orders against him, issued for discharging my official duties in acting against corrupt practices of powers that be such as appointment committee of cabinet (ACC), headed by the Prime Minister of India, as a very rare case, changed his carder in August 2015, form Haryana to Uttarakhand cadre, on grounds of extreme hardship, standing parliamentary committee not only had taken commitment for his appointment as CVO, AIIMS, but also supported his anticorruption initiatives, even intelligence bureau (IB), in its report, in proceeding before Delhi High Court had confirmed his harassment for performing my duties and had termed him as 'Diligent officer' and more recently, High Court of Uttarakhand, terming the attitude of concerned authorities as 'vindictive' had imposed a cost of Rs. 25000/-, which was upheld by the apex court also.
"All these instances were unique and unprecedented in administrative History of Country," said the letter.