Jammu and Kashmir High Court upholds summary dismissal of government employee

A Division Bench of the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has upheld the dismissal of Manzoor Ahmed Bhat, an assistant accounts officer of the Sericulture Department. The Bench, comprising Justice Rajneesh Oswal and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, refused to provide any relief to Bhat, dismissed under 311(2)C of the Indian Constitution. It was argued that Bhat’s service record should have been taken into account. However, the court held that Bhat’s participation in stone pelting incidents and spreading disaffection against the country “outweighed his performance in official duties’’.

The judgement assumes significance as it is likely to become a precedent for other such cases pending before the court. Incidentally, since mid-2020, after Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha took charge, over 40 government employees have been dismissed summarily. Besides, the cases of many employees are presently under scrutiny after adverse reports were received about them from intelligence agencies, including CID. Some of these employees were working in state administrative services, including a DSP Devender Singh and Assabha Arzoomand Khan, a 2011 batch officer.

Assaba is the wife of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) terrorist Bitta Karate’s wife. She was alleged to have played part in carrying cash for JKLF cadres. According to CID reports, she went abroad to different countries using flights, but on occasion, she returned to the country via Nepal. She had managed to hoodwink the authorities for over a decade, but her activities came under scrutiny after her husband’s trail began in one case, according to the CID reports.

Some of the dismissed employees were related to very high profile separatist leaders like late SAS Geelani and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. Under Geelani’s influence, Kashmir University (KU), SKICC and other organisations appointed some people through the backdoor. In some cases, it has been found that mandatory CID scrutiny needed for government employment was also dispensed with.

In July 2023, the government dismissed PRO of Kashmir University Faheem Islam, and two other employees, one from the Revenue Department and a police constable. PRO Islam had got the job at KU at Geelani’s behest. Anees ul Islam, grandson of Geelani, was appointed to SKICC in late 2016, to a gazetted post. However, Anees ul Islam dismissed in October 2021 along with some other employees who had indulged in anti-national activities.

Before August 2019, many government employees were found indulging in suspicious activities, but Article 370 and 35-A acted like a protective umbrella to save them, a retired judge explained. However, things have changed significantly in the last five years. He pointed out that Ruva Shah, sister of Anees ul Islam, had inserted an advertisement in a local newspaper in Srinagar declaring that she had no connection with Geelani’s ideology. Anees and Ruva are the son and daughter of the late Altaf Shah, son-in-law of Geelani, who handled money for separatists. He was booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2017 with several others.

Two of Syed Salahuddin’s sons were government employees and remained absent for long periods from their assignments. However, their seniors did nothing to discipline them for fear of antagonising JKLF. Dismissed summarily, they are presently facing court cases that pertain to their appointments. Some sections of Article 311 allow the dismissal, removal, or reduction in rank of government employees in view of their anti-national activities.