The government has suddenly woken to the problem of altered or tampered date of birth of in service officers. While a top police officer has been forcibly retired, some other cases of suspected tampering of DoB have surfaced.
In the case of Inspector General of Police Farooq Ahmad Dar, government rescinded its earlier order – where it had allowed change of DoB of the officer – after the home ministry rejected it.
Farooq who joined the police as a Deputy Superintended of Police in 1977 had in 1981 applied for a change in his officially recorded date of birth. Farooq had contended that his recorded date of birth was wrong, and the gap between his recorded date of birth with his elder sister’s date of birth was just two months. The department heard Farooq’s plea for many years, and allowed the change in 1998, after a prolonged process.
But by the time Farooq had been indicted into the IPS. The change of DoB was communicated to the Ministry of Home Affairs and it has reflected in the ministry’ circulars and orders since.
However, the MHA has now objected to the process, saying the state government had no authority to change the DoB recorded in the service books of an IPS officer, as he is governed by the All India Service Rules.
“The Order No. 304(P) of 1998 dated 13.08.1998 of Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Home Department, changing/ altering the date of birth of Farooq Ahmed, IPS (SPS:JK:90) as 25.11.1951 instead of 05.02.1949 was examined in this Ministry vis-a-vis the rule position on the subject.
It has been decided that the above referred order of the state Government shall not have any bearing on the date of birth presently on record i.e. 5.2.1949 of Farooq Ahmed, IPS in so far as Indian Police Service is concerned and that his date of birth will continue to be considered as 5.2.1949 only for all official purposes as the member of India Police Service”, the Home Ministry communicated in its order (No.I-45013/18/2010-IPS.I dated February 9, 2011 to the State Government.
After receiving the home ministry directive, the state’s Principal Secretary to Home Department, BR Sharma vide order no (Home-143(P) of 2011) ordered the retirement of Farooq Ahmed stating that the period of his overstay shall be decided separately. Sharma also rescinded the order (Home 304 (P) of August 8, 1998) and ab-initio deemed Farooq to have retired on February 28, 2009.
Farooq has now moved High Court against the order.
Meanwhile some other officers in the police department have come under scanner.
The government has also rescinded its order allowing DIG Traffic Kamal Saini to change his Date of Birth (DoB) certificate to increase his age in the services by one year and a month. Saini has been attached to Police Headquarters. He is alleged to have produced a fictitious DoB certificate.
Old faces, new games
Two new pro-India political outfits are being launched in J&K, headed by former militants and Ikhwan commanders, with the backing of the Union home ministry and the Indian Army, the Times of India reported. The report said one of the outfits, “with the backing of the home ministry”, will be headed by former Ikhwans and ex-militant commanders Zubair-ul-Islam and Imran Rahi, the other “believed to have the backing of Army” will be launched by Liaquat Ali, once a top Ikhwan commander in south Kashmir.
The parties are planning to set up office in front of the headquarters of Hurriyat Conference, in Rajbagh.
The newspaper termed the development as an innovative attempt to counter the rising influence of “freedom movement” in J&K while providing an alternate space to pro-India elements in the Valley.
Imran Rahi and Zubair Islam have previously contested elections as Awami National Conference candidates.
Show your ID Doc
A team of officers, headed by Additional Commissioner, A M Wani inspected various clinics and hospitals here this week to hunt for government doctors working during duty hours. Newspaper reports said that the team raided various clinics where doctors serving at the SKIMS – who are barred from private practice – were found practicing.
While the raids created problems for the doctors, what became embarrassing for them was that the unedited video footages of the raids were leaked to internet, and were soon circulated through social networking site Facebook.
The video showed renowned doctors caught in awkward positions. One video showed the party entering into a doctor’s chamber in a private clinic and asking for his name and Identity Card. The foxed doctor doesn’t reply, and tries to leave the spot.
While the leakage of videos to internet provided gossip to people, many also criticized the move. Many posts of Facebook appeared condemning the footage leak. One netizen posted that the footage leak makes the exercise look suspect.
The SKIMS faculty forum also raised concern over the manner the raids were conducted. A statement by the forum said that while it did not support the unprofessional activities of its members, it is concerned at the way the raids were being conducted.
It asked the authorities to take adequate care while conducting such exercise and uphold an individual’s basic right to dignity and honour.
Interestingly the video leaks created sympathies for the doctors.
