Suspension of top forest official justifiable: CAT

Dismissing the petition challenging Kerala Chief Conservator of Forests V Gopinathan’s suspension in the Merchiston Land deal, Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam, held on Tuesday that the suspension was ‘justifiable’. The order in this regard was issued by a CAT bench comprising Vice-Chairman Sathi Nair and Dr K B S Rajan. The tribunal also did not accept the petitioner’s contention that only after issuance of memo of charges, can a member of the All India service be suspended.