The Supreme Court on Monday asked Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to probe the suspension of a lecturer from the Jammu and Kashmir education department. The lecturer had presented arguments before the top court in a case related to the abrogation of Article 370.
A constitution bench, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, had taken notice of the suspension of Zahoor Ahmad Bhat. The lecturer had appeared as a petitioner in-person before the top court on August 24 in the said case.
During the hearing, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Rajeev Dhavan pointed out that Bhat had been suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir administration immediately after arguing before the top court. “He took leave for two days. Argued before this court and went back and was suspended,” Sibal informed.
Responding to this concern, the five-judge bench asked Venkataramani to communicate with the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to address the issue.
“This should not happen. Someone arguing before this court gets suspended…,” the bench remarked.
Venkataramani assured the court that he would look into the matter. Mehta added that after the news of Bhat’s suspension was published, he inquired with the administration and was informed that the lecturer’s suspension was based on various reasons, including his frequent filing of petitions in different courts.
“We can provide the court with all the relevant materials related to his suspension,” Mehta stated.
Sibal countered, “Then, he would have been suspended earlier, why now. I have the suspension order of Bhat and it says that he has argued before this court and therefore the suspension. This is not fair. This is not how democracy should function.”
The bench expressed that if there are other reasons for the suspension, that would be a separate matter. However, they stressed that if a person is suspended shortly after presenting arguments before the court, it warrants further investigation.
Mehta conceded that the timing of the suspension was not appropriate and agreed to look into the matter. On August 24, Bhat had personally appeared before the Supreme Court to argue against the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Following his appearance, Bhat was transferred from his position in Srinagar and attached to the office of the Director School Education, Jammu. An inquiry officer was appointed to conduct a thorough investigation into his conduct, according to an official order.
Hailing from Budgam district in central Kashmir, Bhat, who possesses a law degree, had presented his case before the Supreme Court, which is currently reviewing petitions challenging the revocation of Article 370 that granted special status to the former state.
The Centre had abrogated Article 370 and divided Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, on August 5, 2019.