U'khand HC rejects suspended forest officer's plea to quash FIR against him

Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday rejected a petition by suspended forest officer Kishan Chand seeking quashing of an FIR against him in connection with illegal constructions and felling of trees in Morghatti and Pakhro ranges of Corbett Tiger Reserve.

Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday rejected a petition by suspended forest officer Kishan Chand seeking quashing of an FIR against him in connection with illegal constructions and felling of trees in Morghatti and Pakhro ranges of Corbett Tiger Reserve. While turning down Chand's petition, the single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra said quashing of an FIR under Article 226 of the Constitution should only be done in rare cases, according to a Supreme Court dictum. This case does not qualify under the dictum of the Supreme Court and, hence, the FIR is not liable to be quashed, it said. A former deputy conservator of forests, Chand had sought quashing of the FIR contending that the allegations against him were baseless and all the work done by him had the consent of his superior officers in the Forest department. Chand has been accused of felling of trees and illegal constructions in the two ranges during his posting in Kalagarh Forest Division in the Corbett Tiger Reserve's buffer zone.