J&K Anti-Corruption Bureau presented a chargesheet in the Court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption, Baramulla for the illegal appointment of 82 persons in Municipal committee (MC) Sumbal Bandipora during 2009-2010.
The chargesheet was submitted on Thursday against Ghulam Ahmad Wani alias Gulzar, then President of MC Sumbal, Abdul Rashid Shah, then In-Charge Executive Officer, and 82 beneficiaries.
The case originated from a complaint received by the then Vigilance Organization Kashmir (VOK), now ACB J&K, regarding large-scale fraudulent appointments in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across Kashmir.
A probe by VOK revealed that during 2009-2010, President and In-charge Executive Officer MC Sumbal, in league with accused beneficiaries by abuse of their official position and in gross violation of the standing government rules, made 82 illegal appointments of various persons to different posts on the regular pay scale.
The ACB probe found that their salary was drawn by Shah, who also attested service particulars of these 82 illegal appointees.
Verification conducted revealed that these 82 accused beneficiaries were illegally & fraudulently appointed without following due process of law, the ACB said.
Finally on the culmination of verification, an FIR was registered at Police Station VOK (Now ACB Baramulla), against officers of MC Sumbal Bandipora & 82 illegal appointees, and investigations were set into motion.
The investigation further found that the recruitment was made without any transparent recruitment process, without the issuance of any advertisements for wider circulation, and the majority of posts against which accused beneficiaries were appointed do not figure in the schedules given under the Recruitment Rules 2008.
The ACB said investigations conducted also revealed that the majority of the appointments were made on recommendations of the then Speaker J&K Assembly, then MLA Sonawari, as well as Municipal council resolution, which again were not authorized forums as per rules to intervene in the recruitment process.
Accordingly, the sanction for launching prosecution against an service public servant, Rashid Shah, a resident of Papachan, Bandipora, was accorded by the Government. Shah was also prematurely retired from government service; however was reinstated by the High Court order.
On culmination of investigations, the chargesheet against the then President, MC Sumbal; the then I/C Executive Officer, MC Sumbal and 82 illegal appointees was produced in the Court for commission of offences as defined under section 5(1),(d) r/w 5(2) of Jammu & Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, Samvat, 2006, and under Section 120-B, 201 RPC was presented before special Judge Anti-corruption court Baramulla for judicial determination.
