Jammu, June 21: In Jammu and Kashmir, lot of officers never bothered to work for the interest for Govt so why rules & acts are floated again & again to show their superpowers.
Central Administrative Tribunal comprising Chairman Justice L Narasimha Reddy and Administrative Member Tarun Shridhar has pulled on the higher officials of J&K administration for twisting and bending the rules to benefit the officers of their choice.
The strictures were passed in a petition filed by Joginder Lal Bhagat, who was initially appointed as an Accountant in the Ravi Tawi Command Area Farmers Service Cooperative Society Limited between 1976 and 1984.
He took part in Combined Competitive Examination held for Kashmir Administrative Service in the year 1984 & just before his retirement, he submitted a representation to the Government with a request to add the service rendered by him in society, for the purpose of pension but to show their highhandness as usual the request was rejected through an order dated 20.01.2010 followed by another order dated 19.02.2010.
The applicant submitted that there are several instances of the services rendered in Non-Government Organizations being counted in other Government service as and when the persons were selected to KAS and in his case, the benefit was denied.
He cited the live examples of other such issued & after hearing, the CAT observed that the facts reflect a lack of clarity and consistency on the part of the Government. Orders were passed discriminately extending the benefit of counting the past service of the officers selected to KAS, in certain cases by relaxing the Rules and in other cases by citing some other reasons but the respondents denied him such benefit.
CAT said that it is a clear cut case of discrimination in the context of granting relaxation.
CAT said that the Government is required to be consistent, particularly when it deals with the services of its top and senior officers in the administration. Discrimination of this nature would send a wrong signal and in a way, would reflect the method of functioning of the Government.
CAT said that the best thing for the Government, even at this stage, is either to withdraw the benefits, which were granted to the officers, contrary to law, in favour of officers, similarly situated as the applicant, or to grant the same benefits to the applicant.
CAT allowed the petition and set aside the impugned order and directed the Chief Secretary to take into account, all the cases in which the past service of KAS officers in other organizations were added and that of the applicant and to pass a consistent order, strictly in accordance with law, if it is proposed to withdraw the benefit granted to any officer, notice shall be issued.
The CAT further directed that an exercise in this behalf shall be completed within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
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