The High Court on Tuesday asked the government to appoint by October 3 someone with knowhow of the medical field, not an IAS officer, as director health service for Kashmir and Jammu.
A bench of Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey directed commissioner secretary health and medical education department to fill up the posts in keeping with the judgment the court had passed on 22 February 2016.
In the judgment, the court had directed the government to fill up the posts of director health services Kashmir, Jammu in accordance with rules and consider the petitioner’s name also among other eligible candidates.
Underscoring that it fails to understand as to how an IAS officer can man the post of director health services, the court said it is a technical post and requires an expert from the medical fraternity.
The court held that the rules on the subject also do not provide for any scope for an IAS officer to occupy the post saying it is the deputy director in the seniority or the senior consultant who deserve the position.
The court observed that the petitioner, Dr Phuntsog Angchok, has been found eligible by the Court for the post of director in terms of the 2016 judgment.
“But the same is being delayed on one pretext or the other,” the court added.
Pointing out that the present arrangement with commissioner secretary health and medical education holding charge of directors’ post is out of keeping with the rules, the court said: “There is an object of having a senior most deputy director or the senior most consultant on the post and such object cannot be defeated at the whims and caprice of the respondents.”
On behalf of Dr Angchok, advocate Javed Kawoosa submitted before the court that in pursuant to a cabinet decision in February this year, sanctioned stands accorded to the release of the grade of director health services with immediate effect in favour of Angchok who is a senior consultant in ophthalmology. Arguing the contempt petition by Dr Angchok, advocate Kawoosa said the government is not implementing the court order.