High Court has raised a query over the maintainability of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the appointment of SPOs as constables in J&K Police.
Court was hearing a PIL seeking investigation through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into alleged illegal appointments of SPOs as Constables for the last three years in the J&K Police Department.
The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal before proceeding in the matter sought clarification from the counsel as to whether a PIL can be filed and maintained in respect of service matters.
The plea maintains that the higher official in league and connivance with each other have recruited and appointed the Special Police Officers (SPOs) who were working on consolidated wages, as Constables illegally in the Police on the basis of operational functions in the Districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam.
Court was informed that these persons recruited, selected and appointed on the basis of operational functions were either working as SPOs with the high-profile bureaucrats or were performing the duties at the residences of police officers or many other bureaucrats.
“By indulging in this act, the higher officials have indulged in mass scale irregularities in appointing them as Constables and as such the opaque manner in which both the officials have filled up the vacancies of Constables amongst SPOs is bad in law and against the spirit of fair selection/appointment”, Court has been informed.
It is mentioned in the PIL that there is gross manipulation in selection and appointments to various ranks in police especially from the rank of SPOs to Constables as had been done during 2018 to 2020.
“The Police Department has neither uploaded the orders of these Constables on website as on date which manifests malice and arbitrariness on the part of the authorities, nor has the list whereby these appointees were originally working as SPOs been made public,” reads the petition.
Petitioner seeks that Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary Home be directed to initiate inquiry into the matter and file a status report before Court in relation to the induction of SPOs as Constables in the cadres of Police during the years 2018, 2019 up to March, 2020.
