Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Feb 5: State Accountability Commission (SAC) today dismissed complaints against Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand and former R&B Minister and sitting MLA, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori after the complainant failed to pursue the case despite repeated notices issued to him. This has also brought to the fore major lacuna in the provisions of the J&K SAC Act, 2002 as no action is going to be taken against the complainant.
Sources told EXCELSIOR that State Accountability Commission comprising Justice Y P Nargotra (Chairperson) and Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain (Member) has dismissed the complaints filed by one Saquib Mushtaq, son of Mushtaq Ahmed Shora of Qamarwari, Srinagar against the Deputy Chief Minister and former R&B Minister and sitting Congress MLA from Inderwal, G M Saroori.
The complaints have been dismissed as neither the complainant nor any advocate on his behalf came forward to pursue the case, sources said, adding the Commission had given a number of opportunities to the complainant to appear before it but every time there was no response from him or his counsel.
After giving several opportunities to the complainant and hearing SAC Advocate Tahir Shamshi, the Commission found it appropriate to give the final verdict of dismissing the complaints as the act on the part of complainant was amounting to wastage of time of the Commission, sources further said.
This has also brought to the fore major lacuna in the provisions of the J&K State Accountability Commission Act, 2002 as no action is going to be taken against the complainant, sources said, adding “the Act as well as its Rules are silent about taking action against the complainant in case he/she fails to pursue the complaint after defaming the respondents by way of complaint”.
In response to a question, sources said, “the Act and Rules even not prohibit the same complainant from approaching the Commission with complaint against other persons”. They stressed that there should be a provision for action against the complainant for non-appearance before the Commission without any plausible reason that too after initiation of regular inquiry.
The complainant, in his case before the Accountability Commission, had alleged that Deputy Chief Minister in his capacity as Minister Incharge Urban Local Bodies had made fake and illegal appointments in utter violation of constitutional scheme of the Government Order Number 1423 of GAD dated October 14, 2009.
It was also alleged in the complaint that Deputy CM misused his position and by means of corruption, favouritism and nepotism appointed scores of people in public employment.
The allegations against G M Saroori were that during his tenure as R&B Minister 2000 works were allotted without tenders and that the same being not in accordance with law caused huge loss to the state exchequer.
In support of these allegations the complainant had even placed on record press cuttings, copies of communications received from various quarters and the information supplied by Executive Engineers of Anantnag, Ganderbal Bandipora, Pulwama, Chadoora, Srinagar, Uri, Baramulla, Kupwara, Sopore and Handwara.
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