SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah said the order allowing authorities in the Union Territory to deny passports and jobs to those involved in stone pelting and other unlawful activities was open to “gross misuse” as guilt of an accused needs to be proven first in court.
“As a rule, no one can be declared guilty until proven. So, as far as this new order is concerned, it should be seen in relation to the recent order on termination of employees. As such, this new order also seems open to gross misuse in its current form,” Omar said in a tweet. “They did the same with scores of others, many of whom had these police reports tossed out by the courts. An executive order cannot replace a court of law. Guilt or innocence must be proven in court & not based on vague unproven police reports,” another of his tweets on the issue said. On Sunday, an order issued by the police’s criminal investigation department (CID) on behalf of the Jammu and Kashmir government said security clearance should be denied to all those against whom there are digital or police records of involvement in stone-pelting and other subversive activities. Security clearances are needed before issuing a passport and appointment to a government job in the UT.
The order further said if there was any digital evidence such as CCTV footage, photographs, videos, audio clips or quadcopter images available in the police records, then it should be referred to the security forces and the security agencies. “Any subject found involved in any such cases must be denied the security clearance,” the order said.
Earlier in May this year, following a similar order to weed out employees in government service after scrutiny for proof of involvement in anti-national activities or actions endangering the security of the country, three persons were dismissed.
