Aazan Manzoor
Srinagar, Oct 4 (JKNS): The Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) has declared the purported appointment of Imtiyaz Ahmad, a resident of Rawalpora, Srinagar, in the School Education Department as “null and void ab-initio” after an official inquiry found that the appointment, endorsement and subsequent promotion orders cited in his service records had not actually been issued by the competent authority.
According to Order No. 347-DSEK of 2026 dated September 3, 2026, a copy of which lies with news agency JKNS, Ahmad had been working as a Teacher at Boys Middle School, Gagribal, Zone Nishat, Srinagar, before remaining unauthorisedly absent from service from February 21, 2024.
The order states that Ahmad had purportedly been appointed as a Laboratory Assistant in the School Education Department through Government Order No. 395-GAD of 2013 dated April 2, 2013, with an endorsement shown as having been issued by the Directorate of School Education Kashmir on April 3, 2013.
He was subsequently shown as having been promoted as a Teacher through Order No. 1004-DSEK of 2018 dated July 30, 2018.
However, during verification of official departmental records, the Directorate found that no such appointment order, endorsement or promotion order had actually been issued by the competent authority, according to the order.
The matter came under scrutiny after Ahmad remained absent from his duties following the winter vacation for the 2023-24 academic session. He was reported to have remained unauthorisedly absent from February 21, 2024 onwards.
The Zonal Education Officer, Nishat, subsequently issued a show-cause notice to him on May 31, 2024, directing him to resume his duties within seven days. The order states that no response was received from his side.
The Chief Education Officer, Srinagar, later reported the matter to the Directorate through a communication dated October 15, 2024, following which the Directorate examined the service records and initiated a detailed inquiry into the alleged appointment and prolonged unauthorised absence.
The Directorate, through Order No. 65-DSEK of 2026 dated February 16, 2026, appointed the Chief Education Officer, Srinagar, as the Enquiry Officer to examine the circumstances surrounding the alleged appointment and Ahmad’s prolonged absence.
The Enquiry Officer subsequently submitted the inquiry report to the Directorate on April 25, 2026.
Following examination of the report, the Directorate issued a final notice to Ahmad on June 19, 2026, directing him to appear personally before the Directorate within 15 days and produce his testimonials along with the original appointment and promotion orders purportedly issued in his favour.
The order states that Ahmad, in his response to the final notice, acknowledged that he had been “misled and trapped” in a fraudulent and irregular process by certain individuals, and stated that he had discontinued in 2023.
The Directorate, after examining the available records and the inquiry report, concluded that the entry into the School Education Department was fraudulent and “non-est in the eyes of law”.
The order further refers to judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, stating that where an appointment itself is found to be fraudulent and non-existent in law, an employer is not required to conduct a regular departmental inquiry before terminating such an appointment.
The Directorate specifically referred to the judgment dated December 2, 2022, in CSA No. 13/2004, titled Mehmooda vs State of J&K & Others, in support of its decision.
Consequently, the Directorate has declared the alleged entry of Imtiyaz Ahmad into the School Education Department “null and void, ab-initio”.
It has also ordered that all benefits drawn by him on the basis of the said entry in the School Education Department shall be recovered from him.
The order raises questions not only about the purported appointment but also about how the alleged irregular entry continued in departmental records for several years, including the period when the person was shown as having been promoted as a Teacher in 2018.
The purported appointment dates back to 2013, while the promotion was shown to have taken place in 2018. The alleged irregularity, however, came under formal scrutiny only after the unauthorised absence was reported in 2024.
This means the purported entry remained reflected in the departmental records for approximately 13 years before the Directorate declared it null and void in September 2026.
The development has therefore brought into focus the verification mechanisms that were in place at different stages of the individual’s service record and how an appointment later found to have no corresponding order in the official records continued to remain reflected in the departmental system.
At the same time, the Directorate’s order does not attribute responsibility for the alleged fraudulent entry to any particular officer or regime and primarily records the findings concerning Ahmad’s purported appointment, promotion and subsequent service status.
The latest order is dated September 3, 2026, and has been issued by the Director of School Education Kashmir under No. DSEK/Estt-III/B/TS/2151/2024/2962-63. (JKNS)
