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Two Punjab forest officers, suspended in graft case, reinstated
Chandigarh, December 19
The Civil Services Board, headed by the Chief Secretary, has reinstated two Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers, who had earlier been suspended in a case of corruption registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in July last year.
The officers, Parveen Kumar, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, and Vishal Chauhan, a former Conservator of Forests, have been reinstated under the All-India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. The orders for reinstatement have been issued by Financial Commissioner, Department of Forest.
However, the orders state that the orders will have no bearing on the Vigilance cases pending against them. After being arrested, both officers had been granted bail by the high court. It is the department that had failed to initiate any departmental action against the two officers.
The Vigilance Bureau had arrested Vishal Chauhan for his alleged complicity in the case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against former DFO Guramanpreet Singh. The Vigilance had claimed that the IFS officer had connived with the former DFO and contractor Harmahinder Singh to get bribe from coloniser Davinder Sandhu, who had complained to the Vigilance against forest officials.
The bureau had arrested Parveen Kumar in a case pertaining to alleged embezzlement of crore of rupees during the previous Congress regime especially under the tenure of Forest Minister Sangat Singh Gilzian. Kumar had been the CEO of the Punjab State Compensatory Afforestation and nodal officer for issuing NOCs in the department and he was given charge of the PCCF in October 2022 after Gilzian became the minister on September 26.
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