Nainital, Jul 21 The Uttarakhand High Court has transferred two criminal cases registered by the state Vigilance Department in connection with the alleged Corbett Tiger Reserve corruption and illegal construction case from a Haldwani court to the Special CBI Court in Dehradun.
Allowing an application filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Justice Siddharth Sah said the transfer was necessary to avoid parallel proceedings and ensure a fair and legally consistent trial.
The court noted that the CBI had completed its investigation and filed a chargesheet in the Special Anti-Corruption (Central Bureau of Investigation) Court in Dehradun. Continuing the vigilance cases before the Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) in Haldwani could lead to jurisdictional disputes and procedural inconsistencies, it observed.
The two cases were registered by the Vigilance Department in 2022 over alleged financial irregularities, illegal construction and large-scale felling of trees in the Corbett Tiger Reserve.
With the transfer, both vigilance cases will now be heard by the Special CBI Court in Dehradun, which is already hearing the case based on the agency's chargesheet.
The CBI has chargesheeted eight government officials and employees, including then Corbett Tiger Reserve director Rahul, former deputy conservator of forests Kishan Chand, former deputy conservator of forests Akhilesh Tiwari, former range officer Brij Bihari Sharma, deputy ranger Mathura Singh Mavdi, forest officer Surendra Singh, forest guard Sandeep Arya and daily-wage wireless operator Rajesh Rawat.
They have been booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Forest (Conservation) Act, the Indian Forest Act and the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
The High Court said hearing all related cases in a single court would ensure a smooth, effective and uniform trial.
