New Delhi: He harboured a Pakistani national and married her without telling his bosses, and that amounts to grave misconduct. That’s what the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has told the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, in reply to Munir Ahmed, a constable who has challenged his sacking.
According to the CRPF, Munir Ahmed also forged the signature of his wife, a Pakistani national, on their ‘nikahnama’, hid that her visa had expired and that she had applied for a Long Term Visa (LTV). Moreover, he went on a six-day leave from his unit when the government announced that all Pakistani nationals would be deported within 48 hours in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26.
The CRPF made these points in a counter-affidavit filed before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court opposing the writ petition filed by Munir challenging his ouster from the force on 2 May this year.
“Being a member of the force, he harboured a Pakistani National in India, who was on a short-term visa and also married her, which was not intimated to the concerned authorities, which is amounting to grave misconduct,” a CRPF official had noted in a dismissal order.
It added that the “security of the nation has been compromised and there is a further threat to national security by harbouring a foreign national (Pakistan).”
Weeks later, Munir challenged his dismissal from service, citing letters of recommendation from BJP MPs to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs, requesting that her visa be expedited.
Munir had also cited his annual performance assessment report to demonstrate his excellent performance in the CRPF. He also listed details of his communications with CRPF officers at various levels before the Jammu bench of the high court last week.
“On perusal of the copy of the ‘nikahnama’ submitted by the petitioner, it is established that the document has been prepared on 10 pm Friday, dated 24/05/2024 and signatures of Menal Khan obtained on the same day in the ‘Nikahnama’. From the facts of the case, Smt Menal Khan was in Pakistan on that day. Therefore the signatures are forged,” a Deputy Inspector General level officer argued in the affidavit before the High Court.
“He has also not informed the Department that he has processed the case for Long Term Visa(LTV). These facts came to light only when she was brought to Wagah Border for deportation,” the CRPF officer further argued.
A ‘hostile neighbour’
ThePrint, earlier in May, reported a series of communications between Munir and officials of the CRPF at various levels regarding permission and a No-Objection Certificate for his marriage.
Munir married Menal Khan from Pakistan on WhatsApp on 22 May last year, and she entered India on 28 February this year on a tourist visa.
He submitted to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that an Inspector General-rank officer informed the Special Director General-rank officer about his request in November 2023, according to Rule 21 (3) of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.
Munir Ahmed filed another request for no-objection in March 2024. On 30 April last year, the then Director General of the CRPF certified that he “intimated the department well within the rules” and said that he found “no mention of not issuing a no-objection certificate under the rules”, according to the petition.
However, the CRPF has now argued that the Jammu sector of the force resubmitted the proposal to the Jammu zone of the force asking that the NOC not be given since it could be a national security matter in future, as it involved marriage with a Pakistani woman.
A CRPF IG heading the Jammu sector argued that the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, do not fully capture the complications of this particular case, as it was instituted before Pakistan became a “hostile neighbouring state”.
Additionally, the officer argued that Munir was an active member of the force with knowledge of sensitive information such as the deployment of troops, the location of camps, as well as arms and ammunition, which were at risk of leakage in case of his marriage to a Pakistani girl whose identity was not known to the force.
“That CCS Conduct Rules 1964 was framed 60 years ago, and at that time, Pakistan was not a hostile country. However, after eruption of militancy in J&K the neighboring country has become a hostile nation and is abetting terrorism in J&K which has claimed thousands of innocent lives, as well as of police personnel, political activists and paramilitary forces,” the-then CRPF IG, Jammu sector had noted in the proposal.
“It was further mentioned that the petitioner was employed in the Executive staff in CRPF and had access to confidential information like deployment, camp security, arms & ammunition of a Coy and Unit personnel of a particular Battalion/Institution in which he would serve. Therefore, there is apprehension that once he gets married to a Pakistani girl our security will get compromised and it could endanger our national security. Moreover, this department does not know the credentials of the girl who he is going to marry. There are some instances of women working as spies luring such boys into marriage even though in this case he states she is a relative,” he further stated.
However, Munir was already married by then, and his wife entered India in February, which the force learned about only through a newspaper report, while Munir was on 27 days of earned leave.
The CRPF argued that Munir first made these revelations to the force on 24 April this year, when he was transferred to the 41st Battalion in Bhopal and subsequently took six days of earned leave, citing a domestic problem.
After the government decided to revoke visas of all Pakistani nationals in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Menal Khan was also sent to the Wagah Border for deportation, only to be saved by an order of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The CRPF argued that Munir did not keep the department informed about any of these processes related to his wife, and rather endangered the national security interest by harbouring a Pakistani national beyond the validity of a valid visa.
“In view of the submissions made hereinabove and those to be made at the time of arguments, it is most respectfully submitted that this Honourable Court may be pleased to dismiss the above titled writ petition along with costs in favour of the respondents,” the CRPF officer argued before the court.
The J&K High Court is set to hear the matter on Friday.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)