Jammu and Kashmir sacks 4 govt employees for posing ‘threat to state security’

“Whereas the Lieutenant Governor, after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and on the basis of the information available that the activities of Mr Anaytullah Shah Pirzada, Assistant Lineman in the Jal Shakti Department… warrant his dismissal from service,” reads the order issued by the GAD. “Accordingly, the Lieutenant Governor hereby dismisses Pirzada… with immediate effect.”

Article 311 (2) (c) allows the government to dismiss an employee without ordering an enquiry into his conduct or giving him a chance to explain his position. “And whereas, the Lieutenant Governor is satisfied under sub section (c) of the proviso of clause (2) of Article 311 of the Constitution of Indian that in the interest of the security of the state, it is not expedient to hold an enquiry in the case of Mr Anaytullah Shah Pirzada,” the order reads.

In a similarly worded statement, the administration also terminated services of Abdul Rehman Dar, a senior grade police constable; Ghulam Rasool Bhat, a police constable; and Shabeer Ahmad Wani, a teacher in the school education department.

Shah, a resident of Watergam in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, was appointed as a helper in the Jal Shakti department in 1995 and was promoted as Assistant Lineman in 2009. He was posted at his native village of Watergam.

While Dar was appointed in Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2002, Bhat was appointed as a constable in 2011. Both Dar and Bhat are residents of Tral in south Kashmir and were posted in central Kashmir’s Budgam. Police sources say that a case was registered against Dar in the past and that he is currently out on bail.

Wani, a resident of Bungam village in DH Pora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, was appointed as a Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teacher in 2004. He was regularised as a General Line Teacher in 2009.

Police sources say while Wani’s name figured in three FIRs related to the protests in Kulgam after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, he was also arrested under the Public Safety Act immediately after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.