Bhopal: The chairman of Madhya Pradesh’s State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has asked the state Chief Secretary to suspend the body’s Member Secretary, escalating a governance dispute that the chairman says is harming the authority’s reputation and delaying environmental decision-making.
Allegations and administrative response
In a four-page letter dated October 20 to Chief Secretary Ashok Barnwal, SEIAA Chairman Shivnarayan Singh Chauhan accused Member Secretary Harshal Pancholi of “repeatedly committing serious irregularities and openly violating prescribed legal provisions”, according to reporting by The Indian Express. Chauhan told the Chief Secretary that the alleged conduct was “damaging the reputation of SEIAA and the state government” and warned that delays in disciplinary action were causing “irreparable damage to the environment and creating a situation of disorder within SEIAA”.
Chauhan’s letter, as described in the original report, lists a set of specific procedural complaints. The chairman alleged that Pancholi had:
- bypassed the chairman’s approval;
- selectively listed cases for environmental clearance;
- failed to act on a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order restricting mining without SEIAA approval.
Chauhan is reported to have said he had proper documentation to support each allegation.
Member secretary’s defence
Pancholi, when contacted, rejected the accusations and described his actions as efforts to bring transparency to SEIAA procedures. He said that, as per rules, the member secretary is responsible for drafting the agenda, preparing the minutes of meetings and assisting in deciding environmental clearances. He asserted that previous member secretaries had functioned as a “rubber stamp” and that his approach was breaking that pattern.
“As per the rules, it is the member secretary who drafts the agenda, prepares the minutes of the meeting and also helps in deciding the environmental clearances. The chairman has been doing all this in his own office, and the member secretaries have been a rubber stamp post. Now I have come in and brought transparency to the process,” Pancholi said, and added he was ready to face any investigation.
Scale and implications
The dispute comes as around 500 cases are pending before SEIAA, Chauhan’s letter reportedly stated. Those pending matters are central to the authority’s statutory role in granting environmental clearances for projects, including those with potential impacts on land, water and forest resources. Delays, disagreement over procedure, or parallel approaches to agendas and minutes can slow decision-making and raise questions about impartiality and compliance with judicial orders such as those from the NGT.
| Position | Claim/Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Chairman (Shivnarayan S. Chauhan) | Alleges bypassing of chairman’s approval, selective case listings, failure to enforce NGT order; seeks suspension |
| Member Secretary (Harshal Pancholi) | Says role includes drafting agendas and minutes, claims to be introducing transparency; ready for investigation |
The public nature of the dispute and the formal request to the Chief Secretary elevate what might otherwise be an internal administrative disagreement into a matter requiring executive scrutiny. The SEIAA’s functioning affects environmental governance in the state, adherence to statutory timelines and courts’ directions, and the processing of applications that may touch on mining approvals and other projects with ecological consequences.
What comes next
The chairman confirmed he had sent the letter; the member secretary indicated his willingness to undergo investigation. The original report does not state whether the Chief Secretary has taken any step on the request for suspension or whether any inquiry has been ordered. Until the state administration responds, the status of the pending 500 cases and the authority’s internal functioning will remain uncertain.
The episode underscores recurring challenges in environmental governance: clarity of roles within statutory bodies, the need for transparent agenda-setting and minute-keeping, timely compliance with judicial orders, and mechanisms for resolving senior-level disputes without disrupting statutory processes.
Officials in the state administration and SEIAA will need to address procedural questions and ensure that pending clearances and statutory obligations, including those arising from NGT directions, are not compromised while the matter is examined.
