Uttarakhand former DGP booked for illegal purchase of forest land

A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against former Uttarakhand director general of police (DGP) B S Sidhu and seven others in connection with alleged illegal purchase of reserve forest land in Dehradun in 2012 and subsequent felling of 25 sal trees in the concerned area.

The FIR against the eight people was filed on October 23 following an approval from the state government. HT has seen a copy of the FIR.

Despite repeated attempts, Sidhu could not be contacted for a comment on the matter.

The case pertains to alleged illegal purchase of reserve forest land by the former DGP in Bir Girwali area of Rajpur Range in Dehradun in 2012. The FIR at Rajpur police station was registered on the basis of a complaint by divisional forest officer (Mussoorie division) Ashutosh Singh.

In the FIR, Sidhu has been accused of illegally purchasing 0.7450 hectares of land under a reserved forest area in 2012.

“The area had been notified as a reserved forest under Section 4 of Indian Forest Act, 1927; as per a notification dated February 22, 1968. The land was then declared as reserve forest under section 20 of the abovementioned Act; as per a notification dated May 1, 1970,” the FIR said.

“The DG, police purchased 0.7450 hectares of land which comes under the forest reserve area on the consultation of two Meerut based lawyers Deepak Sharma and Smita Dikshit and in connivance with the (other) mentioned accused in 2012. Subsequently, 25 sal trees were felled in the same area in 2013,” it added.

The FIR also alleged that Sidhu misused his position, as former DGP, to harass and pressurise forest officials and even filed a “fake” case against some of them in July 2013 when they tried to raise the matter (pertaining to land purchase).

The seven others who have been named in the FIR are Mahendra Singh, Nathu Ram, Deepak Sharma, Smita Dikshit, Subhash Sharma, Krishna and Shujauddin (then revenue official). Besides the advocates and the revenue official, the others booked were witnesses in the land registration.

All the accused have been booked under sections 166 (public servant disobeying law with intent to cause injury to any person), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act.

In its report in March 2013, the Mussoorie Forest Division had mentioned the illegal felling of Sal trees on a land owned by Sidhu in Birgirwali village on Old Mussoorie Road. It also said that the land was sold to Sidhu by a man, identified as Nathu Ram.

However, upon enquiry, the forest department found that Ram died in 1983 while the land’s purchase deal was dated November 2012, the report said.

The report also said that the land purchased by Sidhu for ₹1.25 crore was reserve forest land and 25 Sal trees were felled on the same land. An additional ₹35 lakh was paid by him for stamp duty on trees, it said.

The report alleged Sidhu’s involvement both in the felling of the trees and illegal purchase of reserve forest land.

Another inquiry report from then Mussoorie circle officer (CO) Swatantra Singh had called for a probe by an independent agency.

In August 2018, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had imposed a penalty on the former DGP for illegally felling Sal trees. The matter was also raised in Rajya Sabha in 2014.

Current circle officer (Dalanwala) Juhi Manral, who has been appointed as investigating officer (IO) in the case, said: “I have just taken up the investigation.”