Dy Tr Commissioner’s appointment ab initio fraud

Minister misleads Assembly over official’s induction into KAS by GAD

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

JAMMU, Mar 15: In response to the CPI (M) MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami’s demand of CBI inquiry into mysterious disappearance of records in the state Transport Department and induction of an accused official into Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS), Minister incharge Transport Qamar Ali Akhoon informed Legislative Assembly on Monday that General Administration Department (GAD) had inducted Dy Transport Commissioner Bhumesh Sharma after completing all necessary formalities. However, Early Times is in possession of documentary evidence that the back-door entrant’s induction was only the result of interventions from influential quarters and the GAD had not even bothered to examine the initial appointment order of the incumbent.

During an indepth investigation, this newspaper observed that Bhumesh Sharma’s appointment as Junior Assistant in Transport Department on 10-07-1991 was patently a fraud. It was observed that then Transport Commissioner, who had no authorization by law, had appointed Sharma as Junior Assistant by issuing a two-sentence “order”. Sharma had no special qualification other than the fact his father, Brij Mohan Sharma, happened to be Regional Transport Officer (RTO) of Jammu.

Besides, the post of Junior Assistant was not advertised. There was neither any competition nor any interview. The incumbent was directed to report in the office of his father, then RTO Jammu, for further posting. Copies of the appointment order were sent to nobody other than the appointee and his father (RTO Jammu).

Transport Commissioner’s Order No: 8 of 1991 Dated 10-07-1991, copy of which is available with Early Times, reads:-

“Shri Bhumesh Sharma S/o B.M. Sharma R/o 192- Pakki Dhaki  Jammu who has passed B. Com Examination is hereby appointed as a Junior Assistant against the available vacancy in the pay scale of Rs 800- 1500 purely on temporary basis. He will report in the Regional Transport Office Jammu for further posting”.

According to the Transport Commissioner’s “Order”, Bhumesh Sharma had “passed B. Com Examination” when the Order No: 8 of 1991 was issued on 10^th July 1991 and circulated to only the appointee and his father vide No: 266-67/ TC Dated 10-07-1991. During the investigation, Early Times discovered that incumbent Bhumesh Sharma had not passed B. Com Examination on the date of his appointment by then Transport Commissioner. Official records of the University of Jammu, copies available with Early Times, clearly mention that Bhumesh Sharma’s result of B. Com was actually declared on 6-8-1991 i.e. 27 days after the date of his appointment.

Sharma secured a total of 959 marks (53 percent) out of 1800 in his Bachelor of Commerce. It is clear without an iota of ambiguity that Sharma’s appointment was ab initio fraud and based on suppression of facts by then Transport Commissioner. Nobody from State Vigilance Organisation to Crime Branch took any cognizance of the complaints submitted anonymously by the officials who feared that their promotion prospects were being marred through fraudulent means.

Within a short period, Bhumesh Sharma was not only “regularized into permanent service” through backdoor and elevated to higher positions but also shifted from the inferior job a junior clerk to field executive positions in Motor Vehicle Department. He was subsequently appointed as Chief Inspector of Board of Inspections and thereafter Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) of Udhampur with additional charge of ARTO Doda. It was during this posting that he issued 50,000 driving licenses in just 26 months---as many as 30,000 in Doda and 20,000 in Udhampur.

Entire records of private as well as commercial licenses issued by Sharma from January 31, 2001, to March 25, 2003, were destroyed. One of his subordinate clerks approached Police Station Doda and made an entry in Daily Diary that the records had “disappeared in mysterious circumstances” during transportation from Udhampur to Doda. In reply to VOJ inquiry, ARTO Doda Bipan Singh Charak (now under suspension) wrote on 20-12-2010 that original records of all the 30,000 licenses issued during the period in question were “untraced”. Inspector Devender Singh is still continuing the lackadaisical “preliminary inquiry” and contrary to Minister Akhoon’s statement in Assembly, VOJ has not issued any “clean chit” in favour of the accused.

 Sharma faced an inquiry by Vigilance Organisation Jammu in a matter of creating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. VOJ conducted raids on hotels and Education Colleges in Jammu, Katra and Patni Top and collected all evidences to establish the charges. However, entire records disappeared mysteriously from the possession of the Inquiry Officer, Inspector Nisar Hussain Shah. While Shah was placed under suspension and a criminal matter of destroying the evidence with criminal intention was assigned to CBI, Bhumesh Sharma was allowed to escape free.

The investigation carried out by Early Times discovered that GAD, that directly functions under Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, did not bother to even examine the initial appointment of Bhumesh Shrama, when he was inducted into KAS under Govt Order No: 441-GAD of 2010 Dated 12-04-2010. Enjoying blessings of influential politicians and bureaucrats, Bhumesh Sharma was not only retained in Transport Department but also appointed as Deputy Transport Commissioner. For some time, he also functioned as Member-Secretary of State Transport Authority (STA).

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