Srinagar, Feb 17: The Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to submit its final decision on the prosecution sanction of three IAS officers allegedly involved in the arms license scam.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice M.A. Chowdhary ordered the MHA to file an Action Taken Report regarding Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Niraj Kumar, and Yasha Mudgal, all former District Magistrates of Udhampur, before the next hearing.
The J&K government had forwarded their prosecution sanction request to MHA on December 27, 2024.
The court’s directive as per the news agency Kashmir News Trust came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL No. 09/2012) filed by Sheikh Mohammad Shafi and others, highlighting delays in granting prosecution sanctions against eight IAS officers allegedly involved in the scam. The petitioners’ counsel, Advocate S.S. Ahmed, argued that both MHA and the J&K government were deliberately stalling the process to shield high-profile officers, despite the CBI’s recommendation for prosecution.
Earlier, the MHA had granted prosecution sanction against Rajeev Ranjan, former DM Kupwara, in a related case. However, Ahmed pointed out that the J&K government had advised against prosecution in its status reports dated December 5 and December 20, 2023, exposing what he termed a “malafide intention” to protect bureaucrats.
Senior Additional Advocate General Mohsin Qadri, representing the J&K government, stated that the status report from the General Administration Department was yet to be considered by the court. The Division Bench, however, referred to a hard copy of the report previously submitted in open court.
Directing the MHA to clarify its stance, the court scheduled the next hearing for March 20, next month. [KNT]
