Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 30: High Court today quashed the premature retirement of Assistant Executive Engineer and directed the authorities to reinstate the petitioner within 10 days.
Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey while quashing the order of premature retirement passed by General Administration Department, directed the State to reinstate the petitioner within 10 days. “Thereafter, within three months allow him full wages from the date he was prematurely retired from service”, Court said.
Court also made it clear that the petitioner shall be entitled to all service benefits, increments, seniority, which he would have otherwise earned if he had been in service “The consequential benefits shall also be released in his favour with the period of three months”, court added.
Petitioner Khurshid Anwar Shah was prematurely retired vide Government Order No. 188-GAD dated Feb 13, 2012 indicating therein that he has already rendered 22 years service and shall retire from service and with effect from the same date.
Earlier, the petitioner was arrested and charged under Prevention of Corruption Act by Vigilance organization Kashmir for demanding bribe from a contractor for processing his bills and during the trial in competent court of law he was prematurely retired from his services.
However the trial court on December 2013 acquitted the petitioner from the charges leveled against him as prosecution did not prove the demanding of bribe from the petitioner and even not the acceptance of bribe was established and no recovery of the alleged amount from the accused was proved.
High Court while quashing the premature retirement order of petitioner said that authorities before passing the impugned order should have waited for the outcome of trial court as merely on the basis of allegations such a grave action was unwarranted. “Involvement of petitioner in criminal case did not mean that he was guilty. The authorities ought to have borne in mind that he was still to be tried in the court of law and truth was yet to be ascertained”, High Court added in its judgment.
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