Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 12: The State High Court vacated stay on an interim order by a Single Bench of the Court on the promotion, in violation of the recruitment rules of the department, of 34 officials in Forest Department as incharge Range Officers.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice M M Kumar and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey passed the dismissal order after hearing the petition of All Jammu and Kashmir Forest Employees Federation (JKFEF) of the State Forest Department through their counsel advocate Riyaz Ahmad Jan.
The bench said, “the stay order dated 29-3-2012 has outlived its utility and does not need to be in operation. The appeal stands disposed off.”
The stay was ordered by High Court last year after 34 employees of the Forest Department had filed a petition to revoke the Government order that had halted their promotion as incharge Range Officers in the department after they were promoted.
The Forest Department under then Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, R. D. Tiwari, had promoted 34 Foresters as incharge Range Officers in violation of recruitment rules of the department.
Following objection to these promotions by JKFEF, the Government had formed an enquiry committee to look into the accusations of violation of recruitment rules of the department by its top officials.
The committee in its report, submitted last year, had said the promotion orders of these employees were in violation of recruitment rules and had recommended that the promotion be kept in abeyance till further orders.
However, the promoted officials had moved court through their counsel advocate Jahangir Iqbal Ganaie and got an interim stay order by a Single Bench in March last year.
The 34 officials including 14 Foresters and 20 other Foresters who were promoted in violation of the recruitment rules as incharge Range Officers were Hakim Mohammad Ahsraf, Firdous Ahmad, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, Nazir Ahmad Mir, Mushtaq Ahmad Khaki, Mohammad Subhan Bhat, Mohammad Mansoor Shah, Abdul Rashid Bhat, Satish Kumar Bhat, Mohammad Rafiq Teli, Mohammad Amin Bhat, Manzoor Naseem, Farooq Ahmad Khan, Abdul Rashid Shah, Mohammad Amin Magray, Noor Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Munawar Bhat, Naseeeb Singh, Mohammad Iqbal Lone, Krishan Singh, Harmeet Singh, Bashir Ahmad Mir, Syed Irshad Hussain, Muzzafar Ahmad, Pritam Lal, Khursheed Gul, Rajesh Bakshi, Kulwant Singh, Vilayat Mohammad Ali, Munish Gupta, Goga Ram Sharma, Mohammad Altaf Dar, Munshi Ghulam Nabi and Zaffar Iqbal Khan.