The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on Thursday, May 29, sent notices to the Centre and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), after former constable Munir Ahmed challenged his termination order, issued on May 3, following his marriage to a Pakistani national.
Former CRPF constable Munir Ahmed married Menal Khan on May 24 last year. Menal entered India on a visit visa, which was valid till February 28. She had applied for a long-term visa on March 4, which had since remained pending.
After the April 24th Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan shot up. The Indian government ordered all Pakistani nationals, on short-term visas, to leave the country before April 29.
Meenal was one of them.
However, on May 3, Munir Ahmed was arbitrarily terminated from the CRPF. According to his superiors, Ahmed failed to inform them about his nikkah and claimed his actions were “arbitrary, capricious, whimsical and detrimental to national security.”
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Munir Ahmed has challenged his termination order at the High Court, stating he had duly informed his seniors about his intended marriage in 2022. At that time, the CRPF expressed objections, which Ahmed responded.
On November 17, 2023, the Inspector General of CRPF informed the Special Director General of Police that Ahmed had submitted all relevant documents “which appeared sufficient for the purposes of intimation under Rule 21(3) of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules.”
On December 12, 2023, the Deputy Inspector General informed the Inspector General (Administration) that Munir Ahmed had complied with the requirements and submitted all necessary documents, which were then forwarded for issuance of a no-objection certificate.
The former CRPF constable’s petition states that he did not receive any response from the department. On March 8 last year, he submitted a representation to the Commandant of the CRPF’s 72nd Battalion where he served, “seeking issuance of permission/no objection certificate to his marriage with a foreigner (Pakistani girl).”
On April 23, 2024, the Director General of CRPF stated that Munir Ahmed had “intimated the department well within the rules” and “there is no mention of issuing any no-objection certificate under the rules.”
It was only after Director General of CRPF’s response, Munir Ahmed married Menal via video conferencing.
Moreover, Ahmed was terminatted while he was on leave “on account of a domestic problem,” which “infringes upon the fundamental rights granted under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
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