In a significant order, a Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, comprising Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice M A Chowdhary (via virtual mode), directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to file an updated status report on the infamous Arms License Scam investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) involving five IAS officers and others.

The officers under CBI investigation for their alleged involvement in the scam include Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, then District Magistrate, Udhampur; Niraj Kumar, then District Magistrate, Udhampur; Yasha Mudgal, then District Magistrate, Udhampur; Prasanna Ramaswamy G, then District Magistrate, Leh; and M Raju, then District Magistrate, Kargil. Additionally, JKAS officers Fida Hussain, Jitendra Kumar Singh, Faqir Chand Bhagat, Hemant Kumar Sharma, and Shabir Ahmad Butt, among others, are also under scrutiny.

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During the hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, along with Advocates Rahul Raina, Supriya Chouhan, and Mohammad Zulkarnain Chowdhary, argued that the Jammu & Kashmir administration is shielding high-profile bureaucrats.

Despite repeated communications from the CBI, the administration has not forwarded prosecution proposals to the MHA/Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) as required under the Single Window System. Referring to CBI status reports dated December 5 and December 20, 2023, Advocate Ahmed highlighted that despite the investigation concluding in 2020-2021, the prosecution proposals remain delayed. The delay, he alleged, is due to unnecessary correspondence between the J&K Government, its Law Department, and the CBI’s Regional Office in Chandigarh, which appears to favor the accused officials.

Advocate Ahmed emphasized the Supreme Court’s 2012 landmark ruling in Dr. Subramanian Swamy vs. Dr. Manmohan Singh [(2012) 3 SCC 64], which mandates a two-month timeline for granting or denying prosecution sanction in corruption cases. In case of non-compliance, it is considered a case of “deemed sanction.”

Citing precedence from the 2012 Gulmarg Land Scam, where the Division Bench directed timely submission of prosecution proposals, Advocate Ahmed urged the court to issue similar directions in this case to uphold the rule of law. The Division Bench, after reviewing the status report, noted that prosecution sanction for Rajeev Ranjan (IAS), the then District Magistrate, Kupwara, was issued by the MHA on November 28, 2024. Regarding five other officers, the General Administration Department (GAD) communicated its recommendations to the MHA on December 27, 2024.

The court granted Advocate Ahmed time to respond to the status report filed by the GAD and scheduled the next hearing for February 13, 2025. Kashmir and Ladakh, comprising Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice M A Chowdhary (via virtual mode), directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to file an updated status report on the infamous Arms License Scam investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) involving five IAS officers and others.

The officers under CBI investigation for their alleged involvement in the scam include Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, then District Magistrate, Udhampur; Niraj Kumar, then District Magistrate, Udhampur; Yasha Mudgal, then District Magistrate, Udhampur; Prasanna Ramaswamy G, then District Magistrate, Leh; and M Raju, then District Magistrate, Kargil. Additionally, JKAS officers Fida Hussain, Jitendra Kumar Singh, Faqir Chand Bhagat, Hemant Kumar Sharma, and Shabir Ahmad Butt, among others, are also under scrutiny.

During the hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, along with Advocates Rahul Raina, Supriya Chouhan, and Mohammad Zulkarnain Chowdhary, argued that the Jammu & Kashmir administration is shielding high-profile bureaucrats. Despite repeated communications from the CBI, the administration has not forwarded prosecution proposals to the MHA/Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) as required under the Single Window System.

Referring to CBI status reports dated December 5 and December 20, 2023, Advocate Ahmed highlighted that despite the investigation concluding in 2020-2021, the prosecution proposals remain delayed. The delay, he alleged, is due to unnecessary correspondence between the J&K Government, its Law Department, and the CBI’s Regional Office in Chandigarh, which appears to favor the accused officials. Advocate Ahmed emphasized the Supreme Court’s 2012 landmark ruling in Dr. Subramanian Swamy vs. Dr. Manmohan Singh [(2012) 3 SCC 64], which mandates a two-month timeline for granting or denying prosecution sanction in corruption cases.

In case of non-compliance, it is considered a case of “deemed sanction.” Citing precedence from the 2012 Gulmarg Land Scam, where the Division Bench directed timely submission of prosecution proposals, Advocate Ahmed urged the court to issue similar directions in this case to uphold the rule of law.

The Division Bench, after reviewing the status report, noted that prosecution sanction for Rajeev Ranjan (IAS), the then District Magistrate, Kupwara, was issued by the MHA on November 28, 2024. Regarding five other officers, the General Administration Department (GAD) communicated its recommendations to the MHA on December 27, 2024. The court granted Advocate Ahmed time to respond to the status report filed by the GAD and scheduled the next hearing for February 13, 2025.