Nagpur: Six days after Harisal RFO Deepali Chavan died by suicide by shooting herself, the state government, under pressure from political leaders, human rights organizations and state and national forest unions, suspended APCCF MS Reddy on Wednesday.
Though Reddy’s suspension order was ready on Tuesday, top officials said it was held up for chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s approval. The state government issued it on Wednesday evening as per the powers conferred in the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969.
Top sources said, “The delay was because the PCCF office here did not send a formal proposal on suspension of Reddy as there was no violation of All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules. This is said to one of the reasons for the delay. Finally, the state took a decision on its own.”
PCCF (HoFF) G Saiprakash did not respond to repeated calls by TOI whether the state had sought a proposal from his office before taking a decision to suspend Reddy.
Till the suspension order remains in force, Reddy’s headquarters will be the PCCF office at Nagpur. He will report to PCCF (HoFF). This is the first case in the history of Maharashtra forest department wherein an APCCF rank officer has been suspended. There are cases of suspension of DyCF, CCF and CF rank officials.
On March 25, RFO Chavan had shot herself with her service revolver following harassment by her boss DyCF Vinod Shivkumar, who has been sent to 14 days MCR by a Dharni court. Since then, there is pressure from all bodies and political leaders to make Reddy a co-accused in the RFO suicide case.
Meanwhile, the anticipatory bail application filed by Reddy before civil judge senior division (CJSD), Achalpur, has been kept for hearing on April 3. On Wednesday, the court issued notice to the state asking why bail should not be granted to the applicant.
The court has recorded that the applicant is not named in the FIR, and no criminal law is set into motion. There is no harm to the applicant at present therefore it is justifiable to hear the other side before granting interim relief and issued notice to the state.
In another development, the member-secretary of Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) Anita Patil on March 29, has issued a notice to Reddy seeking clarification on the RFO’s suicide case in eight days.