Bengaluru: In a twist to the denotification of HMT land at Peenya and Jalahalli, forest minister Eshwar Khandre has recommended that chief minister Siddaramaiah initiate action against two senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers and sought disciplinary action against two retired IAS/IFS officials. The forest minister alleged that the current and former bureaucrats were responsible for filing an interlocutory application (IA) before the Supreme Court seeking to denotify 443.6 acres of forest land worth over Rs 14,000 crore.Confirming the recommendation, Khandre told the media Friday that he had previously served notices to those IFS/IAS officers and based on their reply, he recommended action against them.“The land, currently under the possession of Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), was never converted for non-forest purposes. Hence, as per the apex court verdict, a forest land will always remain a forest land. However, the forest land at Peenya is alienated, real estate firms have built several apartments, and shooting of teleserials and films is happening. The question is how this forest land is being used for commercial purposes.”The minister served a show cause notice to the bureaucrats in Nov 2024. Defending his action, Khandre clarified, “The forest land belongs to seven crore Kannadigas. But a few officials filed IA before the Supreme Court seeking denotification of the forest land, neither bringing it to the notice of the forest minister nor obtaining permission of the state cabinet. Hence, notices were served to two serving IFS officers and two retired IAS/IFS officials. Based on their responses, I have recommended action against those officials.”However, a copy of the reply from one of the IFS officials, R Gokul, who is currently serving as additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) EMPRI, surfaced Thursday. The officer wrote to CBI seeking protection while alleging victimisation by the state govt as he was a prosecution witness in an illegal mining scam resulting in the conviction of Congress MLA Satish Sail. Responding to the development, minister Khandre said, “This is entirely a baseless accusation against the state govt.“The forest minister said, “Gokul has written to CBI to cover up his misdeeds by falsely accusing the state govt. This amounts to misconduct of the official or blackmailing of the state govt.”Khandre also clarified that contrary to the recommendations of the IFS officers that the land has lost features of a forest, there is still 280 acres of forest plantation at the place. “What was the need for the officer to submit false information to the Supreme Court when there were so many forest features at the place? Rather than writing to CBI for protection now, he could have written directly to the CM,” Khandre questioned.The minister said, “I have recommended suspension of Gokul and recommended departmental action against another serving IFS officer along with retired IAS/IFS officers as per the rules.”