Corruption in public hiring took center stage in Jammu and Kashmir as EOW Kashmir unveiled a chargesheet against Afshan Shabir for orchestrating a citizenship scam to clinch an assistant professor role at prestigious SKIMS Soura.
Appointed in 2019 via advertisement 04/2015, Afshan’s rise was built on lies. The Shibath Zadibal native, wed to Syed Akil Ahmad, tendered falsified credentials asserting Indian nationality and J&K permanency. Deep dives into records exposed her UK passport and OCI status, rendering her appointment void ab initio.
Under FIR 76/2022 (RPC 199, 420), investigators confiscated service records and grilled her relentlessly. Afshan buckled, owning up to the concealment that spanned application to active duty.
The fallout? Termination on August 20, 2022, and now formal charges before Srinagar’s CJM. Her deceit not only siphoned a government salary but eroded faith in institutional integrity.
This incident highlights systemic gaps, especially in verifying overseas ties amid rising OCI applications. Stakeholders demand biometric-linked checks and real-time passport validations to safeguard merit-based selections. The judiciary’s verdict could ripple across similar unresolved cases.