Dehradun, June 23 -- The Central Administrative Tribunal's Nainital bench has issued notice to principal secretary (forest) RK Sudhanshu in connection with a petition filed by senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi challenging the downgrading of his Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) for 2024-25. The bench also issued an ex-officio notice to the Uttarakhand chief secretary Anand Bardhan and state principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) A bench headed by justice Rajveer Singh Verma passed the order on June 17 and ordered respondents to file their replies within six weeks. The next hearing was scheduled for August 19. In his petition, Chaturvedi, currently serving as director at the Uttarakhand Forestry Training Academy in Haldwani, challenged Sudhanshu's decision to reduce his APAR grading from 9.74, as awarded by the Reporting and Reviewing Authorities, to 9.30. Chaturvedi also cited remarks made by his Reporting Authority in the annual confidential report for the same year, which called his integrity unimpeachable and praised his innovations ,including using AI technology in forest management, conserving flora, establishing the state's first Rhododendron (Buransh) garden in Munsyari, and raising the world's highest-altitude Miyawaki plantation. The petition also highlighted his role in ensuring vigilance against corruption. In December 2024, he recommended a central probe into the "Eco Hut" project in Munsyari ,covering construction worth crores of rupees allegedly undertaken without any contract/tender, quotations from bogus companies for materials, and diversion of Eco Hut revenue to an unregistered private entity. The request was forwarded to the state government in January 2025. In June 2025, he flagged over 7000 missing boundary pillars in the Mussoorie Forest Division, and sought an SIT probe into a multi-crore jump in the divisional forest officer's assets over three years. He had earlier flagged the purchase of Miyawaki plantation saplings in Dehradun and Mussoorie at rates 30-40 times higher than normal,which the state opposition later highlighted to question the state government. The petition also questioned how Sudhanshu, a Level-15 officer, could lower a grading given by the PCCF (Level-17), who served as Reviewing Authority. It stated that a representation submitted to the chief secretary on 8 December was still not disposed of, despite ACR rules requiring disposal within two months....