HMT land row: Min says action taken against 4 officers

In the wake of reports on a senior IFS officer alleging victimisation in an issue related to forest land denotification, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Friday said action has been initiated against other officers involved in the attempt to denotify Peenya Plantation forest land worth Rs 14,000 crore.

DH on Friday reported on senior IFS officer R Gokul seeking protection from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) stating that he was being framed in a case in which he has “not done anything wrong” and was being “victimised” due to his role in investigating a case related illegal mining in which a Congress MLA was convicted recently.

The minister was responding to media persons who sought his reaction to the development and details of the progress in recovery of the 443 acres and 6 gunta of Peenya Plantation.

“We had issued notice to two retired and two serving officers. They had not taken Cabinet approval before filing an interlocutory application (IA) seeking the Supreme Court’s permission to denotify the forest. I have also written to the chief minister, recommending action against them,” he said.

Asked about the allegation of victimisation, Khandre said it was completely false. “I had issued a written direction dated September 24, 2024, giving clear instruction to issue notice to the officers and take action. The conviction in the Belekeri case came one month after my direction. R Gokul has written to the CBI to hide his mistake. This too is the misconduct of the officer or a blackmail tactic,” he said.

Khandre said he recommended Gokul’s suspension and departmental enquiry against another officer while file was submitted to the chief minister for action against the retired officers.

He said the land occupied by HMT has not been converted for non-forest use. Going by the Supreme Court orders and Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, it remains a forest. Despite this, the land is being sold. Real estate companies have built hundreds of flats and movies are being shot. 

Further, the minister stated that a high-level committee headed by the chief secretary was set up in 2015 to look into lands held by different organisations. The IA was filed on June 20, 2020 without bringing it to the notice of the committee. On July 15, 2020, the committee decided to place before cabinet issues related to forest land denotification.