‘Another Agitation Staring it’s face’ Post Students protests, Govt employees to hit roads

EJAC threatens to hit streets if ‘terminated’ officials aren’t reinstated, says government’s move ‘illegal, unjust’; Legal experts say dismissal orders ‘bereft of reasons’

another-agitation-staring-its-face-post-students-protests-govt-employees-to-hit-roadsBarely few days after the J&K government terminated its 12 employees for allegedly spearheading or participating in street protests during the ongoing uprising in Kashmir, the Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) on Thursday asked the government to reconsider its decision or face an agitation. It also called an ‘emergency meeting’ on Saturday to chalk out future course of action on the issue that is set to snowball into a major controversy.
Talking to Kashmir Post, EJAC president Abdul Qayoom Wani termed the government’s move to sack employees as “illegal and unjust.”

“The (termination) orders are in contravention of law of the land,” he said.
On Tuesday evening, the PDP-BJP government—in a first move of its kind under an ‘elected’ government—sacked 12 employees from different departments who were accused by the J&K police’s intelligence wing—the Criminal Investigation Department—of spearheading or participating in protests in Kashmir triggered by the killing of Hibzul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.
Those sacked are lower-rung officials from different government departments.

Coming down heavily on the state government, Wani said the employees of J&K “will fight tooth and nail the ‘unjust’ move and provide all assistance to these employees.”
“The Government has denied an opportunity to them (employees) to defend themselves. As per procedure, an inquiry should have been conducted into the charges leveled against them,” he said.
Wani also demanded constitution of a high-level committee to look into the charges framed against these employees.
“We will come on roads if Government will not re-instate them,” he said.
Questioning the Government’s move, legal experts said the termination orders are “bereft of reasons regarding dispensing of enquiry.”
“The orders are bereft of any reason regarding dispensing of inquiry, unless the record shows recording of the reasons,” senior High Court lawyer Zaffar Ahmad Shah said.
While issuing termination orders, the Government decided against holding mandatory inquiry into these cases, claiming that same was not practicable in the given circumstances.
“ …In the prevailing situation and keeping in view the charged atmosphere including threat perception to witnesses, it would not be feasible for the witnesses to depose in case of inquiry,” the dismissal orders issued by the Government read.
Zaffar Shah said the Government, in the orders, has recorded conclusions but not the basis and the ground on which such conclusion is based.
On the Government’s claims of threat perception to witnesses, Shah said the inquiry could have been held in Jammu.
“If conducting an inquiry was not possible in Kashmir, it could have been done in Jammu,” he said.
The termination orders state that “the acts of these employees are not only aimed at questioning sovereignty and integrity of India but also violate Rule 14 and 20 of the J&K Government Employees Conduct Rules 1971”.
“Their continuation in service will not only set a bad precedent but would tantamount to putting a premium on indulging in misconduct, subversion and anti-national activities,” the dismissal orders read.
Earlier, Government employees were also dismissed in State in 1986 and 1990 for allegedly indulging in “anti-national activities”. But at both the times, State was under Governor’s Rule.
Senior PDP leader and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar was among five government employees sacked from service by the Government in 1990 for his alleged involvement in “anti-national” activities.

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