SC asks JK High Court to ‘take up’ officer’s application for ‘interim relief’
Srinagar: The Supreme Court has directed the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to take up the application of a senior officer of the Jammu and Kashmir government and grant him interim relief expeditiously.
Mohammad Mehraj, a commissioner secretary level officer in the Jammu and Kashmir government was suspended in September 2018 and asked to compulsorily retired on November 2018.
The petitioner aggrieved with the government orders challenged them in the High Court challenged the suspension, attachment and retirement before the Single Judge of the J&K High Court wherein notice was issued.
“However, the matter was adjourned on one pretext or another. The petitioner therefore approached the Supreme Court for setting aside two Government orders,” his counsel, Advocate Keshav Thakur, submitted before the Supreme Court.
The counsel through virtual hearing from Jammu submitted that his petitioner was aggrieved of order dated 12.07.2019 wherein Division Bench refused to grant interim protection to the petitioner against two government orders of suspension and compulsory retirement in gross violation of principle of natural justice and in violation of Supreme Court order issued in 2017.
“The directions of the Supreme Court were complied and the petitioner was appointed as Commissioner/Secretary to Government Food and Supplies Department in 2017 and subsequently transferred as Commissioner /Secretary to Government Agriculture Department”, the counsel for the petitioner submitted.
“Thereafter, the petitioner was again transferred and posted as Commissioner/Secretary ARI Training. The postings within a gap of 3 months were malafide and against the judgment and orders of the Supreme Court as the petitioner ought to have been in the post for a minimum of two years”, he said.
“The petitioner was finally punished with a suspension order and lodging of an FIR against him which led to his arrest on 1.09.2018. Thereafter on 4.09.2018 the petitioner was suspended and on 18.09.2018 was attached with the General Administrative Department and compulsory retired in November 2018”.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Dr Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra directed the Single Judge to take up the application for grant of interim relief expeditiously having regard to the time frame which was set out in the order of the Division Bench in the Letter Patent Appeal.
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