Row over breach of protocol: Chairman Odisha Forest Corporation relieved by order of MD, an IFS officer UPDATED

In a breach of protocol in Odisha, a senior IAS officer heading the Odisha Forest Development Corporation was relieved by the Managing Director of the corporation, upon his transfer without waiting for the successor to join. The issue has resulted in resentment among the top IAS officers of the state.

The state government had transferred Bishnupada Sethi (IAS 1995), Chairman of the corporation, but his successor was not named. Sethi was waiting for his successor to join so as to hand over the charge and join his new posting. But on November 10, 2026, the Managing Director of the corporation, who happens to be an Indian Forest Service officer, issued his relieving order.

Sources in Odisha bureaucratic circles claimed that the chairman Bishnupada Sethi is a senior IAS officer and if he had to join his new responsibility immediately, then the Chief Secretary or the Principal Secretary, General Administration could have made a request to him over phone to hand over the charge and move on. It is learnt that the senior IAS officer has expressed his disapproval of the act in a letter written to the Chief Secretary, Odisha.