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2011 (2) Supreme 711
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph, JJ.
Mohammad Aftab Mir — Appellant
versus
State of J & K & Ors. — Respondents
Civil Appeal Nos.2815-2816 of 2011
(Arising out of SLP(C)Nos.29337-29338 of 2008)
Decided on : 31-3-2011
Facts of the Case :
Policy decision was taken by State of Jammu and Kashmir herein in the instant case in order to effectively deal with the law and order situation, wherein accelerated promotion was granted to Government employees whose performance in discharge of their duties and combating militancy was outstanding. Writ Petition was filed by appellant for a direction to the Authority concerned to consider and promote Appellant to the rank of Inspector in recognition of his excellent performance. Said writ petition was Dismissed by High Court. Letters Patent Appeal was also Dismissed by High Court.
2. Present appeal has been filed against said order of High Court.
Findings of the Court :
Neither Single Judge nor the Division Bench of High Court appeared to have given proper attention to the Circular No.14-GR of 1990 dated 6th March, 1990, in relation to the recommendations which had been made by the Superintendent and the Senior Superintendent of Police, Budgam District.From the materials on record it was quite clear that claim of Appellant was covered by the policy decision of Government contained in said Circular . It is only subsequently that on 6th January, 2000, that a Government Order No.Home-3(P) of 2000 was published by the State in its Home Department regarding the procedure for out-of-turn promotion in the Police Department. It is in said circular that it had been indicated that out-of-turn promotion could be considered only for consistently exceptional performance on the anti-militancy front . Both the Single Judge and the Division Bench appeared to have overlooked the difference in the two different circulars and decision of Single Judge was based on the later Circular , while Appellant’s claim was under the earlier Circular .Hence direction was given that the case of Appellant be reconsidered by concerned Respondents in accordance with the Circular No.14-GR of 1990 dated 6th March, 1990. Impugned orders passed by Single Judge and Division Bench of High Court were set aside .Appeals were allowed.
Result : Appeals allowed.
JUDGMENT
Altamas Kabir, J. —
1. Leave granted.
2. In November, 1990, when militancy was at its height in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the Appellant was selected for the post of Sub-Inspector in the Jammu and Kashmir Police. In February, 1995, he was posted as the Station House Officer of Chadoora Police Station, adjacent to the town of Charare Sharif in the district of Budgam, which is the convergence point for pilgrims and other visitors to the shrine of Hazrat Shaikh Nooruddin Noorani, situated in Charare Sharif in order to reach the shrine, people have to travel through Chadoora which is the gateway to the shrine. At the time of the Appellant’s posting at Chadoora Police Station, his batch-mate, Shaikh Hamidulla, was already serving as the Station House Officer, Charare Sharif.
3. In between the months of February and May, 1995, armed militants laid siege to the aforesaid shrine prompting the Government to send two units of the army backed by the Border Security Force to flush out the militants from the shrine precincts. The Chadoora Police Station under the Appellant’s charge was saddled with the duty of ensuring that more militants and unruly mobs did not enter Charare Sharif town during the said period. On 10th and 11th of May, 1995, in a fierce encounter between the Indian troops and the militants, the entire town of Charare Sharif, including the aforesaid shrine and about 1500 residential houses, were gutted. This triggered off violent protests all over Kashmir and, in particular, in the nearby areas from where enraged citizens in processions and even in unruly mobs starting marching towards Charare Sharif, not only threatening further deterioration in the law and order situation therein, but also threatening to destroy the secular fabric of the Valley by resorting to communal violence. The Appellant claims to have displayed exemplary courage and at the risk of his life prevented a temple at Badipora from being desecrated and burnt by an unruly mob of about 3000 people and the action taken by the Appellant saved Badipora from being converted into a battle field. According to the Appellant, he successfully resisted violent attempts by unruly mobs and processions of thousands of people to enter Charare Sharif through Chadoora which was under his jurisdiction. In effect, according to the appellant, it was the exemplary courage and patriotism as displayed by him as part of his official duties which prevented the situation from going out of hand in the aftermath of the destruction of the Charare Sharif shrine.
4. It is the Appellant’s case that in order to gear up its administrative machinery and to effectively deal with the law and order situation, the State of Jammu and Kashmir took a policy decision to provide for accelerated promotion for Government employees whose performance in discharge of their duties and combating militancy was outstanding. A Circular, being No.14-GR of 1990, dated 6th March, 1990, was published by the State of Jammu and Kashmir in this regard. The procedure for accelerated promotion entailed a special report to be obtained about the conduct and performance of the officer concerned which was to be considered by the Promotion Committee. It was also provided that the Government would consider the grant of accelerated promotion where the special report brought out outstanding performance on the part of the officer concerned.
5. On 12th May, 1995, the day after the incident in Charare Sharif, the Inspector General of Police and the Senior Superintendent of Police visited the area to assess the situation. On 10th June, 1995, the Director General of Police gave only the S.H.O., Charare Sharif, Shaikh Hamidulla and Sub-Inspector Sonaullah, out-of-turn promotion, even though recommendations had also been made in respect of the Appellant for such out-of-turn promotion. The Appellant has referred to the Letters of Appreciation given by the Commanding Officer of the 12th Bn. Rashtriya Rifles, the Command
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