J-K admin orders premature retirement of 3 officials over corruption charges

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has ordered premature retirement of three officials of the prison department for their involvement in corruption and criminal activities, an official spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The step was taken as part of a regular process of scrutiny of records of officials, who cross benchmarks of age and service period in terms of article 226(2) of J&K CSRs, he said.
In its endeavour to make the administration more efficient and transparent, the administration prematurely retired three personnel on charges of their involvement in corruption and criminal activities, he said.
These personnel conducted their duties in ways which were unbecoming of public servants and in violation of the established code of conduct, the spokesperson said.
“Out of these retirees, one was found involved in a serious criminal case and remained under custody for three years, besides, the official had gained a bad public reputation,” he said.
Another official was found habitual of violating official channels of communication and guilty of sending fake and frivolous complaints, misusing the RTI Act and wasting time of High Court for which he was also fined with Rs 10,000 by the court.
The official’s three annual increments were withheld as punishment, the spokesperson said.
Further, one official was found involved in smuggling of contraband substances inside sub-jail Reasi, he added.
According to the recommendations of the Review Committee, the performance of these employees was found to be unsatisfactory and their continuation in the government service was found against the public interest.
As part of its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, various employees have been dismissed from service on account of official misconduct, after rigorously following departmental proceedings against them, the spokesperson said.
Several cases are under scrutiny with the Empowered Committees constituted for consideration of cases under Article 226(2) of J&K CSRs, while many employees have also been terminated from service on account of anti-national activities, he said.