Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 12: Division Bench of State High Court comprising Justice Hasnain Massodi and Justice Janak Raj Kotwal today stayed demotion of Dr Showkat Choudhary and directed the Writ Court to decide all the petitions preferably within a period of four weeks so that the question of inter-se seniority between appellant and respondent gets settled once for all and the parties, who are specialists in their respective disciplines, teach the medical students, serve the patients instead of making repeated rounds of law courts.
The direction was passed in a LPA filed by Dr Showkat Choudhary challenging his demotion.
After hearing Advocate Vikram Sharma appearing for the appellant whereas Deputy AG PS Chandel appearing for the State and Advocate Ajay Abrol appearing for the caveator, Division Bench observed, “we are of the opinion that the respondents in terms of the Writ Court order dated 28.04.2015 are required not to act upon and implement the Government Order No. 139-HME of 2015 dated 22.04.2015 ( whereby Dr Shoket Choudhary was demoted) till the matter comes up before the Writ Court and is modified, altered or extended”.
“Appellant is currently holding the position of Assistant Professor in Own Pay and Grade (OPG) in Medical Gastroenterology, Super Specialty Hospital, Jammu and is seeking quashment of Government Order No.139-HME of 2015 dated 22.04.2015 inter alia on the ground that the order has been passed at his back without affording him opportunity to put forth his stand”, the DB observed, adding “it is pleaded that the order impugned in the writ petition does not only reduce him in rank but changes his seniority in the cadre of lecturers and the respondents therefore were required to hear the appellant before passing the impugned Government order”.
“Writ Court obviously intended to preserve the list so that the appellant was not non- suited till the respondents disclosed their stand and matter was considered and also to avoid multiplicity of litigation. In the event, order impugned in the Writ Court was allowed to be implemented, number of issues would arise triggering further litigation between the parties and even the colleagues affected by the order”, the DB said, adding “there is substance in the argument advanced by counsel for the appellant that ad interim order is required to be passed with sufficient clarity so that all chances of misinterpreting the order are excluded and the intended purpose while passing the order is achieved”.
“We don’t propose to embark upon an exercise to examine the merits of the case projected before Writ Court. The order questioning the present appeal as already indicated is a threshold order and it would be appropriate to leave it to the Writ Court to make such exercise once the pleadings are complete. We are only concerned with import of Writ Court order questioned in the Letters Patent Appeal in the background of the grounds urged in the appeal including the ground that the impugned order may be taken to be one declining ad interim relief to the petitioner”.
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