Jammu & Kashmir administration has demoted a retired officer from the date he was placed as in-charge deputy superintendent of police (DySP) after an inquiry established that there were building plan and master plan violations during his stint with the Lakes & Waterways Development Authority which has been renamed as the Lake Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA).

In an order, JK’s Home department has imposed a penalty of “reduction to a lower post” on Shah Sikander, in-charge DySP(now retired).

The Home department’s order states that Shah Sikander, in-charge DySP, is demoted to the post of inspector with effect from 20.07.2012, the date he was placed as in-charge DySP.

Sikander, the then enforcement officer of Lake and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), was arrested by then State Vigilance Organisation on March 14, 2017 in a case registered against him in 2015 for violations in peripheral areas of Dal Lake.

According to the order, Sikander was served charge-sheet on June 21, 2017 for submitting a written statement of defence within period of 21 days.

He submitted his statement on September 25, 2017 and refuted all  the charges.

As per the order, the response submitted by the officer was found unsatisfactory and accordingly, it was decided that the charges were required to be inquired thoroughly.

On January 01, 2018, the government appointed an inquiry officer to probe the charges against him.

In the report, the inquiry officer established that there was violation of building permission norms and instances of illegal construction around the Dal lake during his posting with LAWDA( now LCMA).

“The competent authority decided to impose the penalty of “reduction in rank” for violating J&K Government Employees (Conduct)Rules,1971,” reads the order—(KNO)