At the outset, getting to the nitty – gritty of the matter, we feel that there is an increasing need of having a well devised transparent, fool proof, just and effective personnel policy and procedures in Jammu and Kashmir to guide authorities’ decisions in matters of appointments, annual performance reports, promotions, transfers, invoking disciplinary proceedings and terminations. The revocation of decisions of placement of services under suspension, terminating or reviewing of the quantum of punishments awarded to the erring employees too should be according to the well set rules instead of being guided by the whims and fancies of those who either have no knowledge about the sensitive personnel subjects and matters or are guided by considerations extraneous to pure and straight personnel matters.
If transparent approach would have been the guiding factors of the State Government, the current tangle of NHM employees in respect of terminations and then selective revocation thereof would have at all not surfaced. The selective approach has taken the clumsy shape of virtual discrimination. If well set and transparent personnel policies would have been in vogue and accordingly implemented without any fear or favour, there would have emerged no scope of or any ground for feeling of having been meted out injustice and subjected to ‘pick and choose’ policy in the revocation of the termination orders in respect of some NHM employees. The aggrieved employees, after having exhausted all means of being heard and dispensed with the justice had, as a last resort no other alternative but to seek the intervention of the judicial process. Verily, the High Court had to issue orders to the State Government to furnish information about any uniform policy framed to deal with the revocation of the termination orders of the NHM employees following filing of a petition by the concerned aggrieved employees.
The State Government, depending upon the circumstances and the reasons justifying its action preceded by providing sufficient avenues to the employees concerned to create conducive reasons to prevent the Government from proceeding with invoking disciplinary proceedings including outright terminations , appears to have not taken care of having regard to the principles of natural justice by selectively revoking its orders while doing nothing of the sort for others especially the fact of all of them (361) being from Jammu province. It looks ludicrous and therefore beyond comprehension, that for the same ground of ‘misconduct’, orders of termination of employees from Kashmir, Ladakh and Samba were rescinded but not of those belonging to other areas of Jammu province. This is prima- facie appearing to be a brazen selective approach for which the High Court has asked the State Government to furnish the necessary information in respect of its any uniform policy to deal with the NHM employees within two weeks’ time.
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