Those who let off guilty now being asked by MoEF for advice

NEW DELHI: Despite an environment ministry’s inquiry report indicting senior officials and politicians of the Haryana government and the Supreme Court-appointed Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) for letting the guilty off in the Haryana forest scam, enviornment minister Jairam Ramesh has asked the same CEC to consult the Haryana government and decide what action it should take in the case.
The inquiry report had found embezzling of funds, violation of court orders and environmental laws, hounding of a whistleblower and connivance at the highest level to save the guilty. It found that the CEC had let the Haryana officials off the hook by asking the state instead to deposit a Rs 1 crore fine for destroying a wildlife sanctuary.
But the inquiry found CEC had summarily decided the case on its own and not even taken it to the apex court as part of its recommendatory role. The report recommended that a CBI investigation be launched.
But sources in the ministry said Ramesh has instead referred the case to the CEC itself to decide what action it should take. Before this too, Ramesh’s officials had tried to whittle down the recommendation for a CBI inquiry.