Thursday, 27 October 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The former Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP), BS Sidhu has claimed that FIR filed against him is vindictive and the senior officials of the State government have been deliberately misinformed about the entire matter to get their approval to file cases against him. Sidhu made these claims on Wednesday, two days after Dehradun police registered an FIR against him and seven others for the alleged illegal purchase of reserved forest land in Rajpur area in 2012 and the felling of 25 Sal trees in 2013.
Sidhu has written letters to the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) Vinod Singhal and the Dehradun senior superintendent of police (SSP) Daleep Singh Kunwar on Wednesday explaining his stance on the matter. He wrote to PCCF that the Forest Department had already challaned ( penalised) him on the same matter on June 26, 2013 which is still subjudice and the high court has given its stay on it. He further stated that intention of malice is also clear in the present case from the fact that the FIR was lodged against him just two days after the court issued summons for the then DFO Dhiraj Pandey for the illicit felling of trees, conspiracy to help land mafia in illegal grabbing of the said land and falsely framing Sidhu for his own criminal deeds after he complained against these illicit fellings. He has appealed PCCF to withdraw the FIR filed against him on his directions in Rajpur police station.
In his letter to the SSP, Sidhu stated that the then DFO Dhiraj Pandey has attempted to get a false case registered against him through misrepresentation and concealment of facts before Uttarakhand government to obtain order which would amount to ‘Contempt of Orders of Multiple Courts’. The letter stated, “Dhiraj Pandey has been trying to get a false case registered against Sidhu for years through Ravindra Jugran and Sub-inspector Nirvikar. In 2014, their application was turned down by Uttarakhand High Court and Supreme Court in 2016. They then filed an application for registration of a case in Rajpur police station which was declined on merit. They both appealed in the Dehradun ACJM court in April but were rejected again.”
Sidhu said that since they could not appeal in SC after being already rejected, they criminally concealed the necessary information from the government to get their approval to register a case against him. He said that the false FIR registered against him would be contempt of court in this case and appealed to the SSP to take necessary action on the matter.
