Srinagar, Jun 18 : Taking strong exception to the stand taken by the Jammu and Kashmir Bank (JKB) in the High Court that it is not a State, nor an authority, or instrumentality of the State within the meaning of Article 12 of the constitution, Apni Party (AP) president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Thursday asked the bank administration if it was so why long awaited result of recently cancelled selection process has not been declared.
If it the bank is an autonomous financial institution with no interference from the government why the selection process was cancelled, former minister Bukhari asked in a statement here this afternoon.
He said the argument of JK Bank’s counsel in a petition filed by the job aspirants seeking results, suggests that the JK Bank is not a State, nor an authority, or instrumentality of the State within the meaning of Article 12 of the constitution.
“If the JK Bank is really an autonomous financial institution as argued by its counsel, how come, it accepted the State Administrative Council (SAC) decision that left the hopes of lakhs of aspirants in tatters and demoralized those promising candidates who put their blood and sweat in the exams for consecutive two years?” Bukhari asked.
He said that lakhs of job aspiring youth from across Jammu and Kashmir had applied for different posts advertised by the JK Bank in 2018. “Even after conducting the examination in a very transparent and fair manner under Inter-Banking Personnel System (IBPS) for which the bank was lauded by the then Governor S P Malik, why did the Bank management accepted scrapping of its selection process ordered by new dispensation using a pretext of legal infirmities?” Bukhari questioned.
He alleged that the decision of cancellation of selection process taken by the SAC without proper application of mind not only jeopardized the interests and functioning of the JK Bank but also dashed hopes of lakhs of qualified, jobless youth of J&K in a single go.
“Since the JK Bank has now claimed to be an autonomous body, who among the government and Bank management is responsible for sullying the careers of lakhs of youth of J&K? Who is going to compensate the job aspiring youth who appeared in the cancelled examination process for their over two years’ time? If there were any irregularities in the recruitment process, why didn’t the then government ask IBPS to upload results on their own website rather than handing the same to JK Bank immediately after the selection process concluded?” the JKAP president stressed.
Bukhari also asked that if there were any legal infirmities present in the advertisement, why didn’t the then government wind up the process during tier-1 itself and saved the time and energy of lakhs of youth who along with their families are still hopefully waiting for the results.
“Everything comes with remedial measures. The present government should not make SAC decision a point of prestige and rectify its wrongs by declaring the results for the lakhs of aspirants who have pinned their expectations with the JK Bank selection list,” Bukhari demanded.
