CAT seeks status report, warns of appropriate orders in defiance

Srinagar, Aug 04: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Srinagar has ordered that it would be constrained to pass appropriate orders in case the authorities failed to file a status report on a plea seeking the filling up of the post of director ISM on a substantive basis.

A division bench comprising M S Latif Member (J) and Prasant Kumar Member (A) sought the report in keeping with the order the tribunal had passed on April 22.

The tribunal’s direction came in response to Dr Showkat Hussain Yatoo’s plea, who contends that his rejection for appointment as Director, ISM was “illegal”.

In its judgment passed on May 5, 2022, on a transfer application, the tribunal while appreciating the compulsion of the government to fill up the vacant post of Director, ISM in 2019 on a deputation basis, had observed that “we feel that with the passage of more than two and a half years, it would be in the interest of justice for the government to review the position and consider holding the selection process for filling up the post of Director, ISM as per the procedure prescribed under the relevant rules.”

On April 22 this year, after Advocate Bhat Fayaz, counsel representing the petitioner had sought the attention of the tribunal to the order.

The tribunal had directed the DAG representing the government to submit the present status of the compliance as reflected in keeping with the judgment dated May 18, 2022, within a week.

On July 9, as the matter came up, the counsel submitted that in terms of the order dated April 22, 2024, the authorities were bound to file the status of the compliance as reflected in the judgment the tribunal had passed on May 18, 2022.

The government, he said, was granted one week to do the needful.

The tribunal observed that on May 6 this year, when the matter came up for hearing, the order dated April 22, 2024, was not complied with and the then Deputy Advocate General (DAG) for the government requested some more time to do the needful.

“Accordingly, three weeks' further time was granted to submit the status report,” it said.

“Today, the matter came up for consideration. Yet again needful has not been done as was ordered vide order dated April 22, 2024, the tribunal said in its order of July 9.

Petitioner’s counsel said that despite opportunities, the authorities have not filed the status report. “They don’t file it deliberately,” he said.

“In this view of the matter, Rais ( DAG) is directed to submit his status report in the light of the order dated April 22, 2024, within two weeks positively, failing which this Court shall be constrained to proceed following the law against the respondents and pass appropriate orders as warranted under law,” the tribunal said and listed the plea on August 20.

Dr Yatoo is aggrieved of the Government Order No 157-JK (HME) of 2023 dated February 2, 2023, issued by the Health and Medical Education Department by which his claim for his consideration against the post of Director ISM was rejected.

In his plea, the petitioner submits that Dr Mohan Singh who was on deputation from the Health and Medical Education Department against the post of Director ISM in pursuance of order No 1091-GAD of 2019 dated October 11, 2019, attained superannuation two years before.

“If the said doctor gets two years of extension which has been granted to the Doctors (Faculty members) of the Medical Education Department whose age of superannuation has been enhanced from 60 to 62 years, but this extension cannot be granted to him in the capacity of Director ISM,” the petitioner contends.

According to the petitioner, by the communication dated November 17, 2022, the extension has been granted to Dr Mohan Singh against the post of Medical Superintendent at Indira Gandhi Govt. Dental College Jammu in light of SRO 26 of 2015.

“Otherwise in terms of SRO 164 of 2014 dated June 5, 2014, the ISM doctors including the director governed by the same rule. Therefore any person who has crossed the age of 60 years is not eligible for the post of Director ISM,” the petitioner pleads, adding in this regard he has already served a detailed legal notice”.

He contends that in the “absence of formal orders” the incumbent continues as director ISM “illegally”.

The Petitioner further alleges that deputation rules at the most can be for three years and is extendable by a year which period has also “elapsed”.