Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday ordered the termination of 103 firemen of the Fire and Emergency Services Department after an official inquiry and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigation established that their recruitment was “illegal and fraudulently manipulated”.
An order issued by Chandraker Bharti, principal secretary, Home Department, said that “the appointments of these 103 individuals were not made on merit and were secured through fraudulent manipulation”.
He declared the appointment of these firemen as “illegal, void ab initio” and terminated them with immediate effect.
The action follows the findings of an Enquiry Committee constituted in December 2022, which examined allegations of serious irregularities in the selection process. The committee recommended a criminal investigation after detecting evidence of paper leakage, manipulation of results, and tampering with official records.
Subsequent investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Jammu and Kashmir, led to the registration of an FIR on January 2, 2025. The ACB, in its verification and investigation reports, confirmed large-scale tampering of OMR answer sheets, fabrication of scanned answer images, manipulation of merit lists, and alteration of digital evidence. The probe established that at least 106 candidates were awarded marks far in excess of what they had actually secured.
The government order notes that the appointments were secured through criminal conspiracy and fraudulent means, rendering them legally unsustainable. It further states that constitutional protections under Article 311 are not applicable in cases where appointments are illegal from inception, citing multiple judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Of the 106 candidates identified as illegally selected, the appointment of three individuals had already been cancelled earlier by the Fire and Emergency Services Directorate for failing to meet mandatory appointment formalities. The remaining 103 were terminated through the present order.
The government held that continuation of such appointments would perpetuate illegality, undermine public trust, and compromise the sanctity of the recruitment process. All terminated individuals have been directed to cease association with the department from the date of issuance of the order.
The list of terminated appointees includes candidates from multiple districts across the Kashmir and Jammu divisions.