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| Backdoor appointments in IREP | | HC directs CS for registration of criminal case, enquiry through SP IPS \cadre | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu |Sep 6- Division Bench of J&K High Court Jammu Wing has set aside the order of single judge passed on June 29, 2001 with the direction to the State Chief Secretary to get a criminal case registered against all the then erring officials whose names have been mentioned in the objections filed before the writ Court.
This order was passed by the DB comprising Justice Nirmal Singh and Justice YP Nargotra in an appeal filed by the state against the judgment of Single Judge passed on June 29, 2001 with the direction to Chief Secretary to get a criminal case registered against all the then erring officials who are said to have connived with each-other to manage the engagement of respondents/petitioners by fabricating the record. The court further ordered that this should, however, be done after giving them an opportunity of being heard. After registration of the case, the investigation be got conducted by an officer of the State Crime Branch not below the rank of Superintendent of Police that too of an IPS cadre. The Chief Secretary shall submit his report to the registry of the High Court within a period of three months about the action taken against the erring officials.
The DB in this landmark judgment written by Justice Nirmal Singh, after hearing Additional Advocate General Seema Shekhar appearing for the State-appellants and Sr. Adv MK Bhardwaj with Advocates Abhinav Sharma and Ajay Abrol appearing for the respondents/appointees, observed that an important and interesting question of law has been raised in this appeal by the appellant state as to whether the appointment order issued in favour of an employee without following due procedure of law and rules gives any legal right to employees to seek regularization of his service.
According to the case the Integrated Rural Energy Program (IREP) made appointments on contractual basis against different posts of Junior Engineers, Mechanic, Junior Assistants and Class IV by an order issued by the Project Director of IREP on August 1, 1996 and vide Govt. order October 22, 1997 the engagement of respondents were cancelled. Aggrieved by this order, the respondents in a petition filed in the State High Court on which the Writ Court directed the state respondent that service tenure of the petitioners should not be brought to an end and the salaries due to the petitioners would be paid to them. If any adverse order is passed that be kept in abeyance for a period of six weeks. The respondent state aggrieved by this order filed present LPA.
DB further observed that in the present case the respondents were engaged against different posts mentioned above without following any procedure or rule. No advertisement or any public notice inviting applications was issued and nor any committee as alleged by the respondents was constituted by the Government to engage the respondents. The then officials of the state who were manning the project (IREP) adopted fraudulent and illegal means to engage respondents. An illegal screening committee was constituted by the said officials without any approval of the administrative department AK Garyali, the then Additional Secretary to Government Science and Technology Department constituted a fake screening committee showing himself as the Chairman of the said committee with the then Project Director Azad Ahmed Lone, Dr. MA Beigh, the then Project Officer Balwal, MM Malik, the then Project Officer (Central) and ND Sharma the then Sr. Scale Stenographer IREP as its member. These officials manipulated for the selection/appointment of the respondents against the posts, which did not exist at that time when the said screening committee was fraudulently constituted.
DB further observed that these unauthorized appointments were made for extraneous considerations, the arrangements of the respondents contesting and others initially on contract basis against non-existing posts and subsequently release of grade is based on the recommendation of selection committee allegedly constituted by the administrative department when examination of the records it transpired that no such letter or approval under said date was issued by the Government and the constitution of committee is without any authority. The engagement of respondents was subject to an enquiry and enquiring officer in the present case RD Tiwari IFS Director Environment submitted Part-II of the enquiry report mentioning therein that the file of administrative department recalls that the order dated July 1, 1996 and October 8, 1996 do not have the approval of the competent authority and are invalid.. He further observed that the disappearance of the original file in transit in civil secretariat also makes it a shady affair. Thus the engagement of respondents in the present case has been made without issuing any advertisement notice or seeking prior approval of the Government by an illegal committee, is termed as a backdoor entry and the same cannot be sustained. With these observations DB accepted the appeal filed by the State and set aside the order of June 29, 2001 passed by the single court
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