SRINAGAR: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has halted the salaries of ten officers after they failed to appear before the tribunal in matters dating back 6 to 10 years. Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar is reported to be one of the officers, Excelsior reported.
The orders in this regard have been issued by Judicial Member Rajinder Dogra, expressing concern over the fact that the officers neither filed a reply nor bothered to appear through video conferencing to date, despite numerous directives.
The newspaper reported that the CAT provided ample opportunities to the respondent departments. However, as stated in the orders by Member Judicial, neither the replies were submitted nor did the erring officers bother to attend court proceedings. The Member Judicial added, “The Tribunal cannot be a passive observer and is neither oblivious nor silent. We cannot ignore the situation. The law must be upheld, and we must uphold the dignity of the court.”
“The callous attitude has compelled the Tribunal to take such coercive action and pass adverse orders against the officials who have been adopting sluggish approach towards the directions passed by the court”, Member Judicial said and ordered the concerned Administrative Secretaries to hold the inquiry against these officials and take action as per the Conduct Rules for not obeying the orders of the court.
Observing that justice delayed is justice denied, the CAT said, “The poor litigants who have no access to the administration, knock the door of the court with the hope that they will get justice as such the Chief Secretary is once again directed to take action against those officers who are taking the court orders lightly and denying justice to the poor litigants”.
The CAT has made it clear that due to callous attitude of officials the innocent litigants cannot be made to suffer. Accordingly, it has issued appropriate orders directing the concerned Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) not to release the salaries of such officials till further orders.
In a case dating back to 2014, concerning the promotion of a Patwari, the Deputy Commissioner neglected to submit a reply or attend court proceedings. Similarly, other officials, including the Secretary of the Service Selection Board and the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Ramban, have also been cited for their non-responsiveness in cases stretching back seven to nine years.
