Jammu, Nov 6: The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has declined to entertain an application by two IAS officers seeking intervention in the long-pending Arms Licences Scam PIL and a direction to the Centre to consider their representations before deciding on a proposal for grant of prosecution sanction against them.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rajnesh Oswal held that there was no justification for issuing the direction sought by the officers, observing that their contention appeared to suggest that the authorities would not apply their minds properly unless directed by the court.
The application was filed by Pandurang Kondbaroa Pole, an AGMUT cadre IAS officer of the 2004 batch, presently posted as Secretary, Land and Building, Government of NCT of Delhi, and Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, an AGMUT cadre officer of the 2009 batch, presently posted as Secretary, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
The officers had sought impleadment in PIL No. 9/2012, titled Sheikh Mohd. Shafi and Another versus Union of India and Others, besides a direction to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to consider their representations before taking a decision on the proposal for grant of prosecution sanction submitted by the CBI.
Senior Advocate Sakal Bhushan, assisted by Advocate Rahul Sharma, argued on their behalf that the doctrine of deemed sanction could not be applied mechanically and that the competent authorities and the court were required to undertake a case-specific assessment. He submitted that the officers were seeking only a direction for consideration of their representations before any decision was taken on the prosecution sanction proposal.
The Bench, however, found the requested direction unwarranted. It recorded that Bhushan had alternatively sought permission to withdraw the application and pursue the representations before the DoPT.
“The reason why this Court has not accepted the application is that merely the gist of the submission made by learned Senior counsel was that unless the Court directs there will not be proper application of mind by the respondents, which does not seem to find any favour of the Court,” the Bench observed.
The application was accordingly dismissed as withdrawn. On the officers’ request for liberty to pursue appropriate remedies under law, the court observed that no such liberty was required from it.
During the hearing, Advocate S.S. Ahmed, appearing for the petitioners in the PIL, informed the Bench that the Ministry of Home Affairs had filed an updated status report pursuant to the court’s order dated July 6, 2026.
According to the submission, the MHA had stated that, after detailed examination and consultation with the investigating agency and the Jammu and Kashmir Government, it had finalised its views and comments on the proposal and forwarded its considered opinion to the DoPT for a final decision in accordance with the prescribed procedure.
Ahmed sought directions to the DoPT to place before the court the final decision taken on the matter.
Taking note of the submission, the Division Bench directed Vishal Sharma, Deputy Solicitor General of India, appearing for the Union Government, to submit a comprehensive report detailing compliance with the orders passed by the court from time to time.
The PIL has been directed to be listed again on December 23, 2026. [KNT]
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