The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has once again directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to submit a status report regarding the prosecution sanction of eight IAS officers allegedly involved in the arms license scam. The court is seeking an update on the Ministry's final decision concerning the matter.
This directive was issued during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) titled Sheikh Mohammad Shafi & Anr v Union of India & Ors. The petitioners have brought to the court's attention the perceived lack of progress on the part of the J&K government in forwarding the prosecution proposals for the involved IAS officers. The CBI, after completing its investigation, has sought prosecution sanction to file chargesheets against these officers in designated CBI courts.
Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, representing the petitioners, argued that there has been a deliberate delay by both the MHA and the J&K government, allegedly aimed at shielding high-profile officers. Ahmed highlighted that the CBI has, after a thorough investigation, established a prima facie case against these officers. He pointed to a previous court order from January 2, 2025, which granted the MHA time to file a status report on the action taken regarding the comments of the Union Territory of J&K, sent on December 27, 2024, concerning three of the IAS officers.
The IAS officers in question include Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Niraj Kumar, and Yasha Mudgal, all former District Magistrates of Udhampur. Other officers include Prasanna Ramaswamy G, M Raju, Jitendra Kumar Singh, and Ramesh Kumar. The J&K government had forwarded the prosecution sanction proposal for Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Niraj Kumar, and Yasha Mudgal to the MHA on December 27, 2024.
Previously, the MHA had granted prosecution sanction against Rajeev Ranjan, the former DM of Kupwara, in a related case. However, Advocate Ahmed noted that the J&K government had advised against prosecution in its status reports from December 5 and December 20, 2023, which he argued exposed a "malafide intention" to protect the involved bureaucrats.
The CBI's investigation revealed that approximately 1.53 lakh arms licenses were issued in 10 districts of the Jammu division and around 1.21 lakh in 12 districts of the then-Kashmir division between 2012 and 2016. These licenses were allegedly issued for monetary gains by the district magistrates.
The Division Bench has directed Advocate Sumant Sudan, representing the MHA, to submit a status report on the prosecution sanction decision. The case has been re-listed for a hearing on March 20. The court is pressing the MHA to clarify its stance on the prosecution of these IAS officers, emphasizing the need for a final decision in the matter.
