Srinagar. The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday terminated the services of 103 appointees in the Fire and Emergency Services Department after an official enquiry and Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation established that their recruitment was illegal and fraudulently manipulated.
An official order, a copy of which is with Kashmir Newsville, said the appointments were illegal from the beginning as they were obtained through tampering of examination records and manipulation of results.
The decision followed findings of a government appointed inquiry committee and an investigation by the Anti Corruption Bureau of Jammu and Kashmir.
The inquiry committee was constituted in December 2022 to examine allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of firemen and fireman drivers. It submitted its report in February 2024. Acting on its recommendations, the ACB registered a criminal case in January 2025 and conducted a detailed investigation.
The probe found evidence of tampering with OMR answer sheets, fabrication of scanned examination records, manipulation of merit lists and digital data, and deliberate awarding of marks far higher than what candidates had actually secured.
The investigation also recorded instances of criminal conspiracy and admissions by some beneficiaries. It concluded that 106 candidates had benefited from the manipulated recruitment process.
However, the services of three candidates had already been terminated earlier by the Director, Fire and Emergency Services for failure to complete mandatory service formalities. The latest order applies to the remaining 103 appointees.
The government clarified that constitutional safeguards available to civil servants, including protection under Article 311(2), do not apply in cases where appointments are illegal and obtained through fraud.
The order cited judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which have held that such appointments are void and do not require a departmental inquiry before termination.
It added that allowing illegally appointed personnel to continue would erode public trust and damage the integrity of the recruitment process.
