The Jammu and Kashmir administration has issued an order mandating verification of character and antecedents of its employees. The government order dated September 16 states that all employees are mandatorily required to maintain absolute integrity, honesty and allegiance to the Union of India. The order further states that employees are not permitted to do “anything which is unbecoming of a government servant”. Certainly, this requirement is clearly vague and makes compliance quite difficult, keeping the employees at the mercy of the government which is free to decide what behavior amounts to being “unbecoming”.
The order also reiterates that the employee is bound by J&K Government Employees Conduct Rules, 1971. The order then reiterates the J&K Civil Services (Character & Antecedents) Instructions 1997 to keep in mind while conducting periodic verification of the employees, as follows:
The order states that verification will be conducted discreetly and any adverse report will be reported to the Administrative Department which would mean that if the employee is due for promotion, it will be put on hold immediately. Further, these cases will be referred to the Screening Committee and if the Committee confirms the report, then the employee could be terminated. The decision of the Screening Committee can be appealed before the Review Committee.
The order may be read here:
Another order puts restriction on government employees applying for passport who will now have to get a vigilance clearance beforehand. Even though passport is issued basis verification done by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the same fails to take into account employees who are either under suspension or facing departmental inquiry or prosecution on account of serious charges.
The J&K government, which is effectively run by the Central government, given that it is a Union Territory, has been extremely stringent with its employees. In early May, the J&K administration terminated two government employees acting under the order been passed under the provisions of Article 311(2) (c) of the Indian Constitution. Assistant Professor Dr Abdul Bari Naik and revenue official Naib Tehsildar Nazir Ahmad Wani were terminated without inquiry, as allowed by the said order, citing “security of the state” as a reason.
In late April, the administration passed an order giving it the power to terminate an employee without any inquiry, on grounds of ‘security of the state’ and also set up a special task force to initiate action against government employees suspected of such activities that are believed to be against “security of the State”.
Related:
J&K forms task force to take on gov’t employees allegedly acting against ‘security of the state’
J&K admin terminates gov’t employees in interest of “security of the state”