SPECIAL TASK FORCE TO MONITOR J&K GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

SPECIAL TASK FORCE TO MONITOR J&K GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

Subject : Governance

Context : The J&K government constituted a Special Task Force (STF) for identifying and scrutinising the government employees who are involved in any cases related to posing threat to the security or anti-national activities.

Concept :

• The STF will have the ADGP, (CID), J&K, as its chairman and the IGP, representatives of the Home Department; Department of Law, Justice Member and Parliamentary Affairs and the concerned department as its members.
• The STF will scrutinise cases of employees suspected of activities requiring action under Article 311(2)(C) of the Constitution.
• The STF has been tasked to compile records of such employees and engage with other members of the Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) for identifying such other employees.
• The move comes as a number of government employees in the past were found expressing their political opinion in public space on the Kashmir conflict.

Provision of Article 311 of the Constitution

• The special task force has been passed under provisions of Article 311(2) (C) of the Constitution.
• It gives the administration power to terminate an employee without constituting an inquiry against him or her on grounds of security of the State.

Article 311 provides two safeguards to civil servants against any arbitrary dismissal from their posts:

• A civil servant cannot be dismissed or removed by an authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed.
• A civil servant cannot 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.
• The above two safeguards are available only to the members of the civil services of the Centre, the all-India services, the civil services of a state or to persons holding civil posts under the Centre or a state.
• It is not available to the members of defence services or persons holding military posts.

The second safeguard of holding inquiry is not available in the following three cases:

• Where a civil servant is dismissed or removed or reduced in rank on the ground of conduct which has led to his conviction on a criminal charge; or
• Where the authority empowered to dismiss or remove a civil servant or to reduce him in rank is satisfied that for some reason (to be recorded in writing), it is not reasonably practicable to hold such inquiry; or
• Where the president or the governor is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the state, it is not expedient to hold such inquiry.