NEW DELHI, Mar 28: Supreme Court has asked the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court to look into the grievance pertaining to alleged backdoor appointment of administrative staff in the High Court, Subordinate Courts, State Judicial Academy, Legal Services Authority and the e-Court Mission Mode Project.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice P S Narasimha and Justice J B Pardiwala was hearing a petition filed by Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Forum alleging that relatives of existing members of the staff as well as present and former Judges of the High Court have been appointed without following due selection process.The bench stated: “We’ll ask the Chief Justice of High Court to look into the grievance of the petition…Time for filing counter affidavit has been extended. Counter shall be filed by Registrar of J&K HC after specifically taking instructions and directions from Chief Justice of J&K High Court”.The petition assails the appointments made from 2007 onwards on adhoc or through advertisements as ‘suspicious’. The petition provides a list indicative of the existing members of staff and the Judges of High Court who have extended favour to their kin and kith.It further states: “There are instances where amendments have been made in the existing rules just to facilitate backdoor appointments and/or facilitating the appointment of kin of functionaries against higher cadres who otherwise were eligible only for lower cadres and that too if selected after a regular legal recruitment process”.
