Arms licence scam: HC rejects plea by 2 IAS officers, seeks GoI’s report on prosecution sanction

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has declined to entertain an application filed by two IAS officers seeking intervention in the long-pending Arms Licences Scam PIL and a direction to the Centre to consider their representations before deciding on a proposal for grant of prosecution sanction against them.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dr Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rajnesh Oswal passed the order on November 3, observing that there was no justification for issuing the directions sought by the officers.

The application was filed by Pandurang Kondbaroa Pole, a 2004-batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer currently serving as Secretary, Land and Building, Government of NCT of Delhi, and Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, a 2009-batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer presently posted as Secretary to the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

The officers had sought impleadment in PIL No. 9/2012, titled Sheikh Mohd. Shafi and Another versus Union of India and Others, along with directions to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to consider their representations before taking a decision on the CBI’s proposal for grant of prosecution sanction.

Appearing for the officers, Senior Advocate Sakal Bhushan argued that the doctrine of deemed sanction could not be applied mechanically and that the competent authorities were required to undertake a case-specific assessment before taking a decision.

The Bench, however, found no merit in issuing the requested directions, observing that the submissions appeared to suggest that the authorities would not apply their minds properly unless directed by the court.

Following the observations, the counsel sought permission to withdraw the application while reserving the right to pursue the representations before the DoPT. The court accordingly dismissed the application as withdrawn and observed that no specific liberty was required to pursue remedies available under law.

Meanwhile, Advocate S.S. Ahmed, appearing for the petitioners in the original PIL, informed the court that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had submitted an updated status report in compliance with its July 6, 2026 order.

According to the submission, the MHA had completed its examination and consultations with the investigating agency and the Jammu and Kashmir Government and forwarded its considered views and comments on the prosecution sanction proposal to the DoPT for a final decision under the prescribed procedure.

Ahmed sought directions for the DoPT to place its final decision before the court.

Taking note of the submission, the Division Bench directed Deputy Solicitor General of India Vishal Sharma, appearing for the Union Government, to submit a comprehensive report detailing compliance with the court’s previous orders.

The PIL, which has been pending before the High Court since 2012, concerns the alleged illegal issuance of arms licences in Jammu and Kashmir and the investigation being conducted by the CBI.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on December 23.