The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday ordered an IAS officer, Shyambir, deputy commissioner of Ganderbal in Kashmir, to appear before it on Monday in a criminal contempt case initiated by the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of the district.

The double bench of the high court comprising Mr. Justice Atul Shreedharan and Mr. Justice Sanjeev Kumar ordered the 2018 batch IAS officer that he “shall appear in person before this court on Monday i.e. 5th August 2024 at 11 am sharp. Any attempt by him to avoid service of summons or his non-appearance shall be viewed seriously by this court and the court shall resort to coercive proceedings to secure his presence,” the court warned.

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The high court also requested R A Jan, senior counsel, “to assist this court as an amicus. His consent is sought by the Registrar Judicial of this court”.

The court’s order has come in the context of the reference made under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act 2015 by the CJM, Ganderbal, in criminal reference against Shyambir.

Sub-Judge Ganderbal Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi had earlier recommended criminal contempt proceedings and the transfer of the IAS officer who allegedly “abused” his official position to intimidate and harass a judge. He alleged that the DC was trying to implicate him in a false case as a revenge for the order withholding his salary.

Shyambir is said to have attempted to “scandalise” the judiciary by opening an investigation into the assets of Qureshi, who had ordered the DC’s salary to be stopped over his alleged non-compliance of an earlier court order.

In ordering the criminal contempt proceedings, Qureshi had also recommended that the chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir take administrative action under the Government Conduct Rules, 1971, against Shyambir, describing him as a “constant potential threat” to the judiciary.

The sub-judge had also ordered, “This court feels that a bond is required to be obtained from deputy commissioner for his good behaviour (and) he is required to be transferred from Ganderbal to any other place at least till the time the criminal contempt proceedings are decided so that neither he is able to create any further evidence nor he destroys the existing evidence,” the court ruled in its order on 23 July.

The trigger came after Qureshi’s earlier order in a case regarding land acquisition, in which the petitioners approached his court saying they were not compensated by the government after it acquired land from them, even though a decree in this regard was issued in 2022.