On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Central government to determine the cause of the suspension of Dr. Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, a senior lecturer in the School Education Department, who reportedly testified before the Supreme Court in the ongoing case challenging the repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution.
Senior Attorney Kapil Sibal brought up the matter before a Constitution Bench chaired by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud during the Article 370 case hearing.
Dr. Bhat was suspended, according to Sibal, when he pleaded in the supreme court against the repeal of Article 370.w
Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General (SG), claimed that he personally read about the development in newspapers. He continued by saying that there were further problems because Dr. Bhat also testifies in other courts.
He ought to have been suspended earlier, so why is it just now? It’s not fair,” Sibal remarked.
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The CJI then asked SG Mehta to contact the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to find out why the professor had been suspended.
The CJI said that the suspension would be considered permissible if it was based on reasons unrelated to the professor’s involvement in the case. He asked the SG to check into the situation, though, if the suspension was in fact due to the professor’s involvement in the case.
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Find out what can be done by speaking with the Lieutenant Governor. It is (fine) if there is something else. However, if it’s because of your presence in this court, then kindly look into it, he replied.
SG Mehta replied that the professor could not be suspended as payback because everyone has the right to appear in court. He concurred that the decision’s timing was wrong.
Justice BR Gavai agreed, saying that if the suspension occurred as a result of the professor testifying in the case, it was undoubtedly retaliation.
On August 25, the government of Jammu and Kashmir suspended Dr. Bhat.
On August 23, he testified before the Constitution Bench in person as a petitioner-in-person in an interlocutory application in the Article 370 dispute.
Bhat was required to remain employed in the office of the Director of School Education in Jammu throughout the suspension term by the administration of the Union Territory.
