Special Task Force in J&K: J&K govt constitute STF for cases invoking Article 311
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Jammu, Apr 22: The J&K govt has constituted a Special Task Force to screen cases of employees for invoking provisions of Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution. The task force will have the Additional Director General of Police Jammu and Kashmir as its chairman.
The members of the task force include Inspector General of Police, a representative of the Home Department not below the rank of Additional Secretary, a representative of Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs not below the rank of Additional Secretary, and a representative of the concerned department as necessary, not below the rank of Additional Secretary.
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"The terms of reference of the Special Task Force will be to scrutinize cases of employees suspected of activities requiring action under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India, to compile a record of such employees, wherever necessary and to refer it to the Committee constituted vide Govt Order No.738-JK(GAD) of 2020 dated July 30 2020, to engage with other members of the Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) for identifying such other employees, as necessary and to take assistance of other Agencies and Department(s) in this regard, as necessary," an official statement said. The STF shall speedily scrutinise such cases in a time-bound manner and shall be serviced by the Criminal Investigation Department, the statement said.
According to Article 311 of the Indian constitution, "No person who is a member of a civil service of the Union or an all-India service or a civil service of a State or holds a civil post under the Union or a State shall be dismissed or removed by an authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed." Under the same article, the second clause states that, "No such person as aforesaid shall be dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges: Provided that where, it is proposed after such inquiry, to impose upon him any such penalty, such penalty may be imposed on the basis of the evidence adduced during such inquiry and it shall not be necessary to give such person any opportunity of making representation on the penalty proposed"
The second clause also states that it shall not apply to certain conditions where, the STF will be dealing with the third condition that talks about a condition where the President or the Governor, as the case may be, is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the State it is not expedient to hold such inquiry.