Karnataka Govt suspends senior IFS officer R Gokul over stand on forest land donated to HMT Ltd in Bengaluru

BengaluruIn recent years, large portions of the land given to HMT by the forest department for industrial purposes have allegedly been used to facilitate major real estate projects through the connivance of state and central government officials.

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The Karnataka Government Wednesday suspended a senior Indian Forest Service officer, R Gokul, for allegedly facilitating the handover of forest land worth nearly Rs 14,000 crore, held by the public sector company Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) in Bengaluru, to third parties, including private entities.

The government issued the suspension order stating that “in exercise of the powers under Rule 3(1) (a) of the All India Service (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969, Sri R. Gokul, IFS, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Director General, EMPRI, Bengaluru, is placed under suspension with immediate effect, pending inquiry.”"The reason for Gokul’s suspension has been cited as his actions regarding the “denotification of lands granted to HMT measuring 443 Acres 6 guntas situated at Peenya Jalahalli Plantation”. According to the government order, an interlocutory application was filed by forest officials before the Supreme Court in 2020 “without obtaining the approval of the then minister-in-charge or sanction from the state cabinet” for permission to denotify 443.6 acres of land granted to HMT at the Peenya Jalahalli Plantation.