Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 20: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that wrong done by the competent authority cannot be allowed to be perpetuated for all times to come.
The bench of Justice M A Chowdhary was dealing with a petition filed by Nikita Sharma and Nareeb Sharma, children of Tilak Raj Sharma of village Prat in Sunderbani tehsil of Rajouri district.
The petitioners were aggrieved of the application for appeal dated 18.01.2024 filed by Ravi Shanker as Tehsildar Siot, against the petitioners, whereby, he has asked for cancellation of the Pahari Speaking Certificate issued in favour of the petitioners in the year 2021 by him as Tehsildar Sunderbani.
It was submitted by the petitioners that Ravi Shanker was not holding the post of Tehsildar Sunderbani, as such, he has no locus standi in the matter, neither he was an aggrieved party as per the mandate of Section 17 of J&K Reservation Act, 2004. “Such an appeal can also be preferred within a period of 90 days from the date of the order passed but in the present case there is a delay of more than two and a half years”, they added.
After hearing both the sides, Justice M A Chowdhary observed, “from the perusal of communication dated 18.01.2024 made by Tehsildar Siot, it appears that he has taken up the matter with the Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, who is the Appellate/Revisional Authority that as competent authority as Tehsildar Sunderbani he had issued Pahari Speaking People Category Certificates in favour of the petitioners on the basis of the reports/documents furnished by the local Patwari, wherein, income of the family of the applicants had been shown to be less than Rs 8,00,000 which is prescribed limit of income for issuance of PSP certificate”.
“He recorded that it has come to his knowledge that the father of the applicants namely Tilak Raj Sharma, had retired in April 2021 from a Gazatted post and was drawing a salary of more than Rs 1,50,000 per month and that after his retirement, he was working on extension basis in the same office and, accordingly, the income exceeded the prescribed limit and that this fact had been concealed by the petitioners/their father and that the family may have other sources of income as well, it needs to be verified”, High Court observed.
High Court further said, “Section 18 of the Act provides that the appellate authority may, suo moto, or on an application made to it, call for the records of the proceedings taken, or orders made by any competent authority for purposes of satisfying itself as to the legality or to the propriety of such proceedings or orders and may pass such orders in reference thereto, as it deems fit provided that no order shall be made against any person without affording him/her, any reasonable opportunity of being heard”.
“The petitioners on being summoned before the Appellate Authority, while exercising the revisional powers, have a right of being heard and they cannot take a refuge under any pretext to stall the process of revision. It may not out of place to observe that if any illegality has been committed by the competent authority while issuing the category certificates of PSP in favour of the petitioners and that they may not be entitled to, that will be causing injustice to other deserving people of the same category”, High Court said.
Stating that wrong done by the competent authority cannot be allowed to be perpetuated for all times to come under the plea that only an aggrieved person has a right of challenging the certificates and also within a period of 90 days as those provisions are applicable to the appeals and not to the revision, High Court dismissed the petition.
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