Former IAS officer fined Rs 1 lakh for filing ‘frivolous’ plea against J&K LG

JAMMU: The Central Administrative Tribunal’s Jammu Bench has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on a former IAS officer for filing a “mischievous and frivolous” plea against the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and other senior bureaucrats.

The tribunal’s judicial member Rajinder Dogra, in the July 16 order, said the application filed by a former IAS officer Kumar Ranchhodbhai Parmar about his service was just to “harass” the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and other bureaucrats.

The tribunal said this was a service-related matter and instead of impleading the Union and the state governments, Parmar has impleaded Sinha and other authorities by their names.

“It is quite astonishing to note that the applicant, a senior IAS officer with extensive knowledge of the Constitution and its laws, proceeded to file the application seeking relief against the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor,” the tribunal said.

The tribunal said it was dismissing the application and imposing a cost of Rs 1 lakh on Parmar to “prevent the filing of such mischievous and frivolous petitions in future”.

The fine amount will have to be deposited in the Advocates’ Welfare Fund within two weeks, it added.

Advocate Monika Kohli, appearing for Sinha, argued that the impleadment of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir by name was not permissible in view of Article 361 (4) of the Constitution.

The tribunal, while accepting this contention, said it was not clear how Parmar could claim reliefs related to his service conditions from the authorities in their private capacity.

“It is also seen that the applicant has unnecessarily impleaded the Cabinet Secretary of India and Secretary, DoPT as a party in the O.A. by name, though no allegations have been made by the applicant against them in the application,” the order said.

The tribunal said no civil proceedings can be instituted against the Lt Governor, until the expiration of two months next after a notice in writing has been delivered to him, stating the nature of the proceedings, the cause of action therefore, the name, description and place of residence of the party by whom such proceedings are to be instituted and the relief which he claims.

“The applicant has failed to produce any proof or evidence, that such a notice has been made and delivered. Hence, this tribunal is not inclined to grant any relief to the applicant to this extent,” it said.

Parmar, in his plea, sought direction to the Lt Governor and other officials to upgrade his grading of 5 to 10 (on a score of 1-10) on the assessment of work output, personal attributes, and functional competency and also to upgrade his overall numerical grade of 5 to 10.

He also sought to expunge the adverse remarks in his ‘Performance Appraisal Report’ for the reporting period May 4, 2022, to August 6, 2022 for his performance as principal secretary of the Jal Shakti Department.

He also sought his empanelment as an additional secretary with effect from 2019 and as secretary from 2023.