Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 31: In the much publicized Pubic Interest Litigation seeking prosecution of tainted officers, Division Bench of the State High Court comprising Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Tashi Rabstan today extended 10 days further time to the Commissioner Secretaries of Finance and PWD to comply with the directions issued on September 11, 2017.
Vide order dated September 11, 2017, these Commissioner Secretaries were directed to submit the latest status of the departmental enquiry initiated against the Executive Engineers DGMs of J&K Housing Board namely Joginder Lal, Tarsem Lal, Bashir Ahmed Bhat and G H Khandey, who were on deputation in J&K Housing Board from PWD and indicted in the preliminary enquiry into Rs 27 crore scam in J&K Housing Board.
Not only this, the directions had also been issued to the Finance Secretary to file the status of the departmental enquiry against the then Financial Advisor J&K Housing Board Kulbushan Kumar, who was also on deputation to J&K Housing Board.
In the open court, Division Bench also granted 10 days time to the petitioners for filing reply to the fresh miscellaneous application filed by Aftab Rashid Pandit, the then DGM Unit-II J&K Housing Board through Advocate Vikas Magotra seeking vacation / modification of order dated September 11, 2017 to the extent it directed the Commissioner Secretary HUDD to take steps for posting Aftab Rashid Pandit to some other post of grade/cadre in some other department till the completion of departmental enquiry.
Earlier, when the PIL came up for hearing, Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed with Advocates Suraj Singh, Supriya Chouhan and Rahul Raina drew the attention of the court to the status report filed by Senior AAG S S Nanda on behalf of Commissioner Secretary HUDD wherein it was submitted that vide Govt Order No. 203-HUD of 2017 dated 26.09.2017 Rampal Sharma, Secretary J&K Housing Board has been transferred and directed to report to Housing and Urban Development Department for further posting and similarly Aftab Rashid Pandit DGM Unit-II J&K Housing Board has also been transferred and posted as Technical Officer to Government., Housing and Urban Development Department.
Advocate Ahmed submitted that on the last date of hearing, Commissioner Secretaries of Home, Forest, Cooperatives, Health and Medical Education, ARI and Trainings, J&K Special Tribunal and Animal/Sheep Husbandry Department were directed to file the updated status of the pending departmental enquiries but the needful has not been done.
At this stage, Senior AAG Seema Khajooria Shekhar, Senior AAG Nirmal Kotwal, Senior AAG S S Nanda, Deputy Advocate General Raman Sharma, Govt Advocate Sudesh Magotra and Govt Advocate Tarun Sharma requested for more time to comply the last order dated September 11, 2017.
The Division Bench extended the time for filing of the status of departmental enquiries by or before November 10, 2017.
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