FRI 'not recognised' institution, DoPT tells Uttarakhand HC

In an affidavit filed in the Uttarakhand High Court, the Centre has said Dehradun's prestigious Forest Research Institute is ''not a recognised'' institution.

The affidavit was filed recently in the high court by the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India in response to a notice.

The Uttarakhand High Court had issued the notice to the Centre in February while hearing a petition by Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi alleging irregularities and forgery in the selection of a member of the Staff Selection Commission.

''Further, the petitioner (Chaturvedi) does not possess the educational qualification of Post Graduate Degree from a recognised University or Institution'', Secretary DoPT said in the affidavit.

When contacted, Chaturvedi said the FRI has been so described in the DoPT's affidavit in a bid ''to justify a patently malicious order passed against me.'' The FRI was established in 1878 and notified by the UGC as deemed university in 1991. It is one of the oldest and prestigious institutions where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed Yoga on the International Yoga Day in June 2018.