The Rajasthan High Court has issued notice to the state govt on a public interest litigation (PIL) that alleges a Rs 17.5-crore fraud in plantation works in the Rajgarh Range of Alwar Forest Division and seeks a court-monitored CBI probe into the corruption behind it and the environmental damage caused as a result.A division bench of the court, in an order dated July 1, directed the state govt to file a reply within four weeks.The PIL, filed by Jaipurbased Vardaa Foundation under Article 226 of the Constitution, alleges large-scale financial irregularities in plantation and soil conservation works undertaken during 2023-24 across roughly 650 hectares.The works were carriedout under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and the Rajasthan Forestry and Biodiversity Development Project.
Plea relies on internal dept evaluation reports
They were funded by the State Plan and through a sovereign loan from the French Development Agency (AFD).According to the petition, works executed using heavy earth-moving machinery were billed as manual labour, measurement book entries were manipulated and signatures of office-bearers of seven Village Forest Protection and Management Committees (VFPMCs) were forged to facilitate illicit withdrawals from bank accounts.The petition relies on internal departmental evaluation reports prepared after irregularities in the works were first flagged by the then chief conservator of forests, Jaipur, Rajiv Chaturvedi.It claims the evaluation reports found direct embezzlement and infructuous expenditure amounting to over Rs 2 crore. The reports allegedly also identified illegal withdrawals exceeding Rs 15.5 crore from seven VFPMC accounts between 2015-16 and 2024-25, taking the total financial irregularity in the matter to Rs 17.5 crore.The Vardaa Foundation has further alleged that the plantation works were carried out at topographically unsuitable locations, and the resulting use of heavy machinery caused irreversible damage to natural forest cover and soil.
