SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh has mandated the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) to disburse all outstanding retiral benefits and unpaid salary to its former General Manager, Vikar Mustafa Shonthu. The court ruled that the corporation lacked legal grounds to withhold these dues after Shonthu was discharged in a corruption case.
The Chenab Times has learned that Justice Sanjay Dhar passed this order while allowing a writ petition filed by Vikar Mustafa Shonthu. Shonthu had sought to challenge an inquiry report, the recommendations made by the corporation’s management, and a subsequent decision by the Board of Directors that led to the withholding of his salary and retirement benefits.
Court documents indicate that Shonthu was promoted to Deputy General Manager in 2000 and subsequently elevated to General Manager (Civil) in 2015, with the Board of Directors’ approval. In March 2018, he was assigned the additional charge of Managing Director of JKPCC on an in-charge basis, a decision later ratified by the Board.
During his tenure, a government-appointed fact-finding committee investigated issues related to the corporation’s operations. This committee recommended a probe into the circumstances under which Shonthu was assigned the charge of Managing Director. Acting on this recommendation, the Crime Branch registered FIR No. 10/2019 and subsequently filed a chargesheet before the Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Kashmir.
Following these developments, the corporation suspended Shonthu and initiated a departmental inquiry against him in June 2021. The inquiry officer concluded that Shonthu was responsible for allegedly facilitating the preparation and presentation of an incorrect agenda before the Board of Directors, pressuring the Company Secretary to issue a circular, and ensuring the issuance of a backdated circular that purportedly benefited him.
Based on the inquiry findings, the Managing Director recommended withholding Shonthu’s retiral benefits pending the outcome of criminal proceedings or the framing of charges by the court. The Board of Directors approved these recommendations in April 2022.
Shonthu challenged this action, asserting that he had neither drawn the salary attached to the post of Managing Director nor received any charge allowance. He also argued that despite his retirement, his gratuity amounting to approximately Rs 20 lakh, leave salary of about Rs 10 lakh, and salary dues from November 2020 onwards remained unpaid.
During the court proceedings, Justice Dhar noted a crucial development that occurred while the case was pending. The court observed that the Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Srinagar, had discharged the petitioner from FIR No. 10/2019 via an order dated August 29, 2025, which led to the dismissal of the chargesheet. The court stated that with the dismissal of the chargesheet and the petitioner’s discharge, the foundation upon which the Board of Directors ordered the withholding of retiral benefits no longer existed.
“Once he stands discharged, the respondents cannot withhold his retiral benefits,” the court remarked. The court further declined to examine the legality of the departmental inquiry report and its associated recommendations, deeming it an academic exercise given the subsequent discharge in the criminal case.
The JKPCC had contended that another case, FIR No. 44/2021 registered by the Crime Branch concerning alleged irregularities in Shonthu’s promotion and leave sanction, was still under investigation. However, the High Court ruled that the mere pendency of an investigation, without a chargesheet being filed, could not justify the withholding of pensionary benefits.
Citing Article 168-A of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service Regulations, Justice Dhar pointed out that recoveries from pension or retiral benefits are permissible only when losses to the employer, caused by negligence or fraud, are established through departmental or judicial proceedings. The court observed that the corporation had not assessed any financial loss allegedly caused by Shonthu, nor had it demonstrated that he obtained any monetary benefit from the actions attributed to him.
“In fact, it is admitted case of the respondents that the petitioner has neither drawn the charge allowance nor has he drawn the salary attached to the post of Managing Director. Thus, his alleged actions have not resulted in any monetary benefit to him nor has it resulted in any loss to the respondent Corporation,” the court stated. Concluding that the continued withholding of salary and retirement dues was untenable, the High Court ordered the JKPCC to release all terminal benefits and unpaid salary to the petitioner within two months. The court also stipulated that if the dues are not released within this period, they shall accrue interest at a rate of six per cent per annum from the date of the writ petition’s filing until realization.
The Chenab Times News Desk