Amid the ongoing beef controversy, the J&K Government on Tuesday sacked Additional Advocate General, Jammu, Vishal Sharma and Deputy Advocate General, Jammu, Parimoksh Seth.
The two have been sacked for their role in the beef ban case.
The order of sacking of the two lawyers comes nearly two weeks after the High Court passed its orders on September 9 banning bovine slaughter and sale of beef.
“The Government has ordered the disengagement of Additional Advocate General, Jammu, Vishal Sharma and Deputy Advocate General, Jammu, Parimoksh Seth with immediate effect,” an official spokesman said this evening. The orders were issued by the government today.
While Seth was responsible for filing the public interest litigation (PIL), Sharma had appeared on behalf of the state when the controversial orders were passed by the high court.
Asked why the government took two weeks to decide the fate of the two lawyers, a senior government official told The Tribune that Seth was given time to withdraw the PIL, which he did not.
The state was also unhappy with the way Sharma handled the case. So, there was no option but to sack the two lawyers, the government official said.
The beef ban order by the JK High Court has virtually divided the state on communal lines. Earlier this month on September 9, while dealing with a PIL filed by Seth seeking implementation of Section 298-A and 298-B of the Ranbir Penal Code, the Jammu wing of the J&K High Court had on September 9 had asked the state police to ensure “strict compliance” with the “existing law” which banned bovine slaughtering.
On September 16, while admitting a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of sections 298-A, 298-B and other sections, a division bench of the High Court issued a notice to the state government and also made it clear that the pendency of the petition was not a bar for the state or the legislature to scrap or amend the controversial sections.
