On Wednesday, under provision 311(2)(C) of the Constitution, the Jammu and Kashmir Government terminated five government employees for having terror links, news agency ANI reported.
Article 311 of the Constitution deals with ‘Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State’.
Under Article 311(2), no civil servant can be “dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges’’.
Subsection (c) of the provision, however, says this clause shall not apply “where the President or the Governor, as the case may be, is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the State it is not expedient to hold such inquiry”.
The safeguard of an inquiry also does not apply in cases of conviction on a criminal charge [311(2)(a)], or “where the authority…is satisfied that for some reason, to be recorded by that authority in writing, it is not reasonably practicable to hold such inquiry”. [311(2)(b)]
Over two dozen government employees, including senior officials, have been terminated since the formation of a special task force (STF), tasked to scrutinise cases of employees suspected of activities requiring action under Article 311(2) (C) of the Constitution.
Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin’s two sons and former Hurriyat chairman late Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s grandson were among them. Article 311 was extended to J&K after abrogation of its special status under Article 370 in August 2019. One of its provisions says that retention of a person in public service, if prejudicial to the security of the state, can be terminated without recourse to normal inquiry.
To screen the cases of employees suspected of involvement in activities requiring action under this provision of the Constitution, the Jammu and Kashmir government had in April last year constituted a Special Task Force headed by the Additional Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police as its chairman, and having members representing the Departments of Home, Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs.
The Special Task Force was tasked with compiling a record of such employees wherever necessary, and referring it to a committee constituted by the government by an order dated July 30, 2020.
The charges against the sacked staffers range from propagating and promoting the secessionist ideology of Jamat-e-Islami, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, and their sponsors in Pakistan, to informing militants about movement of security forces, harbouring militants, and hawala transactions.
