J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday (November 29, 2024) invoked a special Section of Article 311 and terminated the services of two government employees in J&K for “anti-national” activities. It comes at a time when the elected government, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has questioned such terminations and proposed to review them.
Officials said the Lieutenant Governor invoked Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution of India, a special provision introduced in 2020 dropping the requirement of departmental inquiry to sack Abdul Rehman Naika, a school teacher from Qasba Devsar in Kulgam district, and Zahir Abbas, a pharmacist from Badhat Saroor in Kishtwar district.
The duo was terminated on the basis of the report submitted by the security agencies. However, no departmental inquiry was instituted against them earlier.
Mr. Naika, according to the security agencies, was appointed as a Medical Assistant in 1992 and his links with the Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant outfit, was “unearthed when police officials started investigating the killing of a political person, Ghulam Hassan Lone from Devsar.
“Lone was a staunch nationalist and all his three sons are serving in security forces. He was killed by terrorists in August 2021. Investigation had revealed that Naika was one of the plotters of the killing of Lone to create terror and a situation of insecurity among the patriotic people,” the report said.
The report accused Mr. Naika of “nourishing, strengthening and proliferating a conducive ecosystem for secessionism and terrorism, not only in his local area of Kulgam but also in the neighbouring district of Shopian and Anantnag”. Security agencies said Mr. Naika was allegedly arrested and a hand grenade and an AK-47 ammunition were recovered from him.
This story was originally published in thehindu.com. Read the full story here.
