Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 10: Division Bench of High Court set aside Single Judge order regarding appointment of Prosecuting Officers in the Police after State’s Home Department challenged the court order taking a plea of delay on part of non-selected candidates for approaching court.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Hasanain Masoodi and Justice J R Kotwal set aside the orders issued by the single bench last year regarding the appointment of non-selected candidates in Police Department as Prosecuting Officers.
The Home Department of the State had challenged the three orders of Single Bench in which the department was directed to consider the appointment of 16 candidates who had applied for the post of Prosecuting Officers in the Police Department advertised under notification DAP/J-226 dated 05-03-2003.
A group of three non-selected candidates had sought relief from the High Court immediately after the selection process was over in 2003. The Court while disposing off their writ petitions on 06-10-2009 ordered that the three candidates be appointed within six weeks. Police while complying the court order appointed all the three as Prosecuting Officers.
Sixteen more candidates approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2012, taking the plea that they had performed well in the written test conducted by the department and be adjusted in the same manner as were the three candidates under the court order of 06-10-2009.
The Single Bench of the High Court while disposing off the writ petition of 15 candidates directed the Police to consider the same benefits to them as was given to 3 candidates.
Another respondent Nuzhat-u-Nissa Koul had also approached the court and police was directed on 26-03-2012 that she should be given same benefits as was given to three candidates under High Court order of 06-10-2009. However, the Director General of Police rejected appointment of Koul saying that she approached the court after 9 years of appointment of the Prosecuting Officers.
Koul challenged the DGP’s rejection order and court directed the Police to comply the High Court order dated 26-03-2013 and appoint Koul as Prosecuting Officer as she had secured 55 points in written test while as a selected candidate Abdul Aziz had secured only 53 points.
The counsel for the Home Department Advocate NH Shah argued that the selection process of the Prosecuting Officers was completed in 2003 only and the non-selected candidates approached the court after a gap of 9 years. He argued that this could lead to a ridiculous situation as the posts of the Advertisement Notice of 05-03-2003 have been filled up.
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