*Notices issued to CS, GAD Secy, PRO
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 28: In a significant direction, which may act as an eye opener for those politicians who want officers to follow their unethical directives, State High Court today stayed the transfer of Director, Industries and Commerce Jammu, which was ordered after he refused to obey the illegal diktats of the Minister of State for Industries, Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo.
In the petition, serious allegations have also been leveled against the Minister, who according to the petitioner was pressing for allotment of 35 kanals of prime land to an industrial house by throwing all the norms to the winds and in this deal, an amount of Rs 1.50 crore has exchanged hands. The Director, Dr Abdul Rashid was transferred within three months by exerting pressure on Secretary, General Administration Department after the officer rejected the land allotment cases while chairing the Divisional Level Single Window Clearance Committee.
The petitioner was posted as Director Industries and Commerce, Jammu vide Government Order No.773-GAD of 2014 dated July 16, 2014 pursuant to Cabinet Decision No. 131/11/2014 and he joined his new assignment on July 17. However, vide Government Order No.1091-GAD of 2014 dated October 21, he was pre-maturely transferred with malafide exercise of power at the behest of Minister for Industries.
Senior Advocate Z A Shah along with Advocate Rahul Raina appearing for the petitioner submitted before the High Court that the transfer order was not sustainable in the eyes of law for being contrary to the Transfer Policy framed by the State Government based upon Cabinet Decision No.156/12/2010 dated July 27, 2010.
“While issuing the transfer order, Secretary GAD threw the laid down Transfer Policy to winds as the impugned order is ex-facie without jurisdiction in view of the guidelines enshrined under Item No. VIII of delegation of powers for making transfers and postings”, the counsels for the petitioner said, adding “it is settled law of the land that transfer is an exigency of service and Government is empowered to effect transfer of the employees in the interest of administration. However, as per the Apex Court such power has to be exercised honestly and judiciously but Dr Abdul Rashid has been transferred on malafide consideration”.
After hearing counsels for the petitioner, Justice Janak Raj Kotwal observed, “transfer of petitioner, prima facie, is premature in the face of his earlier transfer effected in July 2014 on the orders of Cabinet”. Accordingly, Justice Kotwal issued two weeks’ notice to Chief Secretary, Secretary, General Administration Department, Minister of State for Industries, Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, Showkat Ahmad Zargar, presently posted as Director Industries and Faizullah, Public Relation Officer to Industries Minister.
In the meantime, as ad interim, subject to objections and till next date before the Bench, impugned transfer of the petitioner shall remain stayed, Justice Kotwal directed.
In the petition, it has been mentioned that immediately after his taking over as Director, Industries and Commerce, the Minister of State for Industries started pressurizing him for immediately calling the Divisional Level Single Window Clearance Committee meeting for clearing the cases of M/s Shivam Metal Shaper Industries Works and M/s Adhishree Cold Storage in whose favour the Managing Director, J&K Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO) had earmarked a plot of land measuring 17 kanals each at Bari Brahmana and also in favour of M/s Chenab Engineering and Fabrication, Industrial Estate, Birpur SICOP in which the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of Minister had personal interest.
When the petitioner pointed out that the cases were not only illegal but also in the knowledge of the Chief Minister and State Vigilance Organization, the PRO tried to convince the petitioner that the Minister enjoys great proximity with the Chief Minister as such no investigating agency can dare to question the wisdom / decision of the petitioner.
On perusal of the records, it came to the knowledge of the Director that one Kamal Kumar, C/o S K Industrial Technical Consultancy, Shastri Nagar had lodged a complaint with Chief Minister, Vigilance Commissioner, Managing Director, J&K SIDCO, Director Industries and Commerce and Income Tax Investigation Department alleging therein that an amount of Rs 1.50 crore has exchanged hands to allot more than 35 kanals of land to an established business house ignoring the pendency list.
On examination of the case, it came to fore that 34 cases were pending since 2009 prior to earmarking of 34 kanals of land in favour of M/s Shivam Metal Shaper Industries Works, Bari Brahmana and M/s Adhishree Cold Storage, which was against the industrial policy of 2004, which clearly provides for allotment of land on first come first serve basis.
In the Divisional Level Single Window Clearance Committee meeting held on October 1, 2014 under the chairmanship of Dr Abdul Rashid, these two cases were also taken up and all the facts were brought to the notice of the members of the Committee. After thoughtful consideration and threadbare discussion, these cases were rejected by the Committee in view of controversial earmarking of land in favour of two units by SIDCO.
This infuriated the Minister, who started nursing a grudge and out of sheer frustration got him transferred in blatant violation of Transfer Policy and other norms, the petition said, adding “soon after the Committee rejected the cases, Dr Abdul Rashid was conveyed by the PRO of the Minister that he would be shortly shown the door for not honoring the directions of the Minister.
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