Nainital, 15 Oct: The Uttarakhand High Court has stayed the permission granted to prosecute former Director of Corbett Tiger Reserve and a senior IFS cadre officer, Rahul. The court has directed both the State Government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file their responses within four weeks. The single bench of Justice Ashish Naithani passed the interim order during the hearing of a petition filed by the former Director challenging the government’s sanction for prosecution. The next hearing in the matter has been fixed for December.
The petitioner submitted that the CBI was investigating alleged irregularities relating to unauthorised construction and tree felling at Pakharo in Kalagarh Tiger Reserve. Following the CBI’s chargesheet, the State Government had granted sanction on 4 September 2025 to prosecute certain officers, but the then Director Rahul was excluded. However, a week later, the government reversed its decision and permitted his prosecution, purportedly on the basis of newspaper reports which had questioned exclusion of Rahul from the list of officers against whom the permission to launch prosecution was granted.
The petitioner has contended that the sanction to prosecute him was invalid and arbitrary. He argued that the government had earlier declined to grant sanction without holding an inquiry but later changed its stand relying solely on news reports. He asserted that the case facts remain unchanged, the inquiry is yet to be concluded, and that allegations against him are baseless and unsupported by evidence. After hearing the submissions, the Court sought replies from both the State Government and the CBI before the next hearing.
In a related matter, the High Court also heard another petition concerning the non-inclusion of newly registered local vehicle owners in the list issued by Corbett authorities for Gypsy (Maruti Suzuki vehicles which primarily operate in national parks in India) operations within the park. The division bench comprising Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Subhash Upadhyaya directed the Director of Corbett Tiger Reserve to frame a new policy to ensure that more local unemployed registered vehicle owners are able to participate and secure livelihood opportunities. The Court further directed that the registration process should not be finalised until the next hearing, but the vehicles already registered should not face any restriction until the final list is prepared and presented before the Court.
During the proceedings, the Director of Corbett Tiger Reserve appeared before the Court through video conferencing. The Court has listed the matter for the next hearing on 27 November.
It may be reminded here that the petition, filed by Chakshu Kargeti, Savitri Aggarwal and others, had contended that they fulfil all eligibility conditions laid down in the guidelines for participating in the lottery process for Gypsy operations, whether as existing or new permit holders. They argued that the Jim Corbett National Park authorities were selectively registering Gypsy owners from certain categories, while denying participation to those whose vehicles were registered two years ago, despite their having obtained valid RTO permits last year. As a result, these Gypsy operators have been rendered unemployed by their exclusion from the current registration process.
