The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed a plea by controversial Indian Forest Service officer and AIIMS deputy secretary Sanjiv Chaturvedi against withdrawal of work allocated to him after he joined
The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed a plea by controversial Indian Forest Service officer and AIIMS deputy secretary Sanjiv Chaturvedi against withdrawal of work allocated to him after he joined the institute on deputation in 2012.
“We are sorry. We are not agreeing and are dismissing the petition. We will pass detailed order later,” a vacation bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and I.S. Mehta said while rejecting his plea.
A day before his tenure of deputation comes to an end, Mr Chaturvedi, whose plea was rejected by the Central Administrative Tribunal, had sought work other than signing pension cheques.
During the hearing, when Mr Chaturvedi’s counsel, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, tried to place before the court his client’s credentials, the bench had a word of appreciation, saying: “We know he has an exemplary track record.”
Mr Chaturvedi, who served as the chief vigilance officer at AIIMS from 2012-14, said the only work he currently has was to sign pension cheques and all other work allocated to him was withdrawn on the orders of the institute’s director.
He challenged the AIIMS director’s withdrawal of work order, saying “It’s an attempt to humiliate him for his action against corrupt practices in the institute.”
Additional solicitor-general Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Centre, opposed the plea saying how can an employee challenge the allocation of work if he cannot challenge the service conditions.
He also said the AIIMS director had allocated the work as per the regulations and by his own statement, Mr Chaturvedi had been given “some work.”
