Court Clears Trial Of 2 Ex J&K Bank Chairmen

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- The Court of the Special Judge Anti-Corruption Srinagar has ordered framing of charges against former Chairmen and several officials of the J&K Bank Ltd. in connection with alleged illegal appointments of Bank Attendants and Assistant Bank Associates.

The Special Judge Anti-Corruption Tasleem Arief held that sufficient prima facie material exists to proceed against the accused for offences punishable under Section 5(1)(d) read with Section 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Ranbir Penal Code.

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According to the prosecution, the Anti-Corruption Bureau registered FIR No. 10/2019 on the basis of a complaint alleging“backdoor” appointments in different branches of the bank.

It said that the accused including former Chairmen Mushtaq Ahmed Sheikh and Parvez Ahmed Nengroo along with some senior officials conspired to appoint certain beneficiaries without identifying vacancies, issuing advertisements, or following prescribed norms under the Officers Service Manual, 2000.

Other accused officials and beneficiaries mentioned in the charge sheet include Abdul Rouf Bhat, Mohd Maqbool Lone, Mohd Yahya Rafiqui, Syed Irfan Lateef, Mohd Iqbal Wani, Arshid Hussain Dar, Shakoor Ahmed Bhat, Waseem Mehraj, Vagish Chander Sharma, Mohd Ayoub Wanchoo, Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, Asif Iqbal Raja, Showkat Ahmed Bhat, Parvaiz Ahmed Baba, Anjum Ara, Faizan Ayaz, Mushtaq Ahmed Mir, Abdul Rashid Shigan, Mohd Aslam Ganie, Imran Matoo and Hameem Nusrat.

The ACB alleged that the appointments were initially made on a temporary basis for 89 days and later regularised, despite the absence of sanctioned vacancies.

The ACB has alleged that the two Chairmen adopted an identical modus operandi in making the appointments, accommodating their respective favourites - including relatives - in a similar manner. It has further alleged that, during their respective tenures, they acted in conspiracy and in league with other bank officials to create an unprecedented and illegal practice of clandestinely absorbing undeserving candidates.

According to the ACB, this deprived more competent and aspiring candidates of employment opportunities. The agency has also alleged that the Chairmen failed to ensure fair competition, did not properly identify or ascertain vacancies, did not advertise the posts, and disregarded the prescribed norms and rules governing appointments.

The investigating agency further alleged that the appointees drew salaries amounting to over Rs 41 lakh till August 2019, causing financial loss to the bank and conferring undue pecuniary advantage.

Counsel representing the accused sought discharge of the accused, contending the FIR was based on a pseudonymous complaint later disowned by the alleged complainant.

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The J&K Bank, they said, is a private entity and its officers are not“public servants” under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Temporary appointments were made under Rule 310 of the Officers Service Manual in view of administrative exigencies, they said. The Board of Directors had ratified the appointments through resolutions, they added.

The court, however, held that at the stage of framing of charge, it is required only to assess whether there exists sufficient material to presume commission of offences, not to conduct a mini-trial.

Relying on settled principles laid down by the Supreme Court, the court observed that conspiracy is often proved through circumstantial evidence and that the material on record indicates“a thread of concerted common course of action and commonalty of design appear prima facie to qualify the entire transaction here.”

The court also upheld the validity of the prosecution sanction granted by the Chairman/CEO of J&K Bank Ltd. under Section 6 of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, observing that he was the competent authority to remove the in-service officials and, therefore, duly empowered to sanction their prosecution.

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Holding that the prosecution has placed sufficient preliminary material on record indicating criminal misconduct and conspiracy, the court declined to discharge any of the accused.

“Consistent with the settled legal position and the foregoing discussion, this Court finds from a perusal of the material on record and the preliminary evidence that the prosecution has produced sufficient material furnishing grounds to proceed against the accused,” the court observed.

The material on record gives reason to hold that the accused have prima facie committed offences punishable under Section 5(1)(d) read with Section 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code, the court said.

“Thus, this Court would find sufficient material on record which warrants the framing of charge against the accused and try them for the commission of the aforesaid offences.” The matter has been listed for formal framing of charges on March 10.

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