Gurgaon: The Forest Development Corporation of Haryana (FDCH) has recommended action against a senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, appointed fact-finding officer last year to inquire into a case of alleged Rs 93-lakh financial irregularities.
The FDCH took into account a report by a team of forest officials from Panchkula, set up to review the findings of the inquiry conducted by IFS officer G Raman. The report, submitted before FDCH managing director Vivek Saxena last week, said that Raman had taken “advantage of his position” as enquiry officer and “acted beyond the scope of his jurisdiction”, and recommended action against him.
According to officials, the then Gurgaon divisional manager of FDCH in 2018 had allegedly acted on his own and given a Rs 93-lakh tender to a private contractor for procuring benches for the education department.
While the education department had made payments for the benches to the FDCH, the corporation had allegedly used the amount for a plantation drive at Masani Barrage sans approval of a competent authority and no payment was made to the independent contractor, and it continues to remain pending. The forest department report stated that Raman was appointed as a fact-finding officer in the alleged case and had submitted a report in January last year, where he gave a “clean chit” to the FDCH but recommended making payments to the private contractor.
The report on the Raman enquiry states: “Perusal of reports and relevant records available in the office makes it clear that the enquiry has not been done properly.” The fact-finding enquiry also “ignored” the issues highlighted by the then MD Jagdish Chandra, involving bypassing the tender process, outsourcing manufacturing process to private vendors, financial misappropriation, etc.
“The content of the report appears to be advocating and defending all these serious irregularities and hence is prima facie biased,” the report states, adding that Raman “acted beyond the scope of his jurisdiction” by recommending payment of Rs 93 lakh for a work executed flouting all norms. “His role was only to find facts in the matter and submit them to the government. The integrity of the fact-finding officer has come to question because this transaction was done without tender and work order,” it states. It recommended the government to appoint another fact-finding enquiry and take action against Raman.
MS Mallik, chief conservator of wildlife, Gurgaon, said, “Further investigation will be carried out as per the findings of the department.”
The FDCH took into account a report by a team of forest officials from Panchkula, set up to review the findings of the inquiry conducted by IFS officer G Raman. The report, submitted before FDCH managing director Vivek Saxena last week, said that Raman had taken “advantage of his position” as enquiry officer and “acted beyond the scope of his jurisdiction”, and recommended action against him.
According to officials, the then Gurgaon divisional manager of FDCH in 2018 had allegedly acted on his own and given a Rs 93-lakh tender to a private contractor for procuring benches for the education department.
While the education department had made payments for the benches to the FDCH, the corporation had allegedly used the amount for a plantation drive at Masani Barrage sans approval of a competent authority and no payment was made to the independent contractor, and it continues to remain pending. The forest department report stated that Raman was appointed as a fact-finding officer in the alleged case and had submitted a report in January last year, where he gave a “clean chit” to the FDCH but recommended making payments to the private contractor.
The report on the Raman enquiry states: “Perusal of reports and relevant records available in the office makes it clear that the enquiry has not been done properly.” The fact-finding enquiry also “ignored” the issues highlighted by the then MD Jagdish Chandra, involving bypassing the tender process, outsourcing manufacturing process to private vendors, financial misappropriation, etc.
“The content of the report appears to be advocating and defending all these serious irregularities and hence is prima facie biased,” the report states, adding that Raman “acted beyond the scope of his jurisdiction” by recommending payment of Rs 93 lakh for a work executed flouting all norms. “His role was only to find facts in the matter and submit them to the government. The integrity of the fact-finding officer has come to question because this transaction was done without tender and work order,” it states. It recommended the government to appoint another fact-finding enquiry and take action against Raman.
MS Mallik, chief conservator of wildlife, Gurgaon, said, “Further investigation will be carried out as per the findings of the department.”
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