Forest officer suspended on the charge of insulting MLA

The State government has suspended, pending further inquiry, Shivananda Naikwadi, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ghataprabha forest division, in Gokak in Belagavi district, on the charge of professional misconduct of insulting an elected representative.

The State government issued the orders suspending the Indian Forest Service officer, after an inquiry by a senior officer of the Forest Department. The inquiry officers had issued a notice to Mr. Naikwadi regarding the allegation that he used inappropriate language against the Raibag MLA Duryodhan Aihole.

The officer gave a reply saying that since he got a call from an unknown number, he thought that a contractor was speaking and spoke in an inappropriate manner. However, when he ascertained that he was speaking to the MLA, he spoken in a respectful manner. Mr. Naikwadi said that he had no malice and would apologise to the MLA if he were to be hurt.

The officer also denied the charges that he had recorded the conversation and shared the audio clip on social media.

However, the department did not accept these clarifications to be true. The inquiry found that the officer had deliberately misbehaved with the MLA. He was placed under suspension as per provisions of Section 3(1) of the All India civil service rules. S.K. Kallolikar, DCF Belagavi, has been placed in charge of the Ghataprabha division.

Earlier, Mr. Aihole had told reporters that he would complain to Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre against the alleged misconduct by the officer.