By virtue of this appeal, the appellant has assailed the order passed by the Director Health Services vide No, 3515/35/DHS, dated 8-12-1971, whereby the services of the appellant were terminated.
2. Feeling aggrieved by the impugned order, the appellant has invoked the jurisdiction of this Tribunal under section 4 of the Service Tribunals Act, 1975 as amended upto date.
3. The brief facts leading to this appeal are that the appellant joined the Health Department as a Dispenser in 1948 and was promoted as a Senior Dispenser on 1-1-1958. The appellant proceeded on four months leave w,e,f, 2-4-1966 and thereafter due to his domestic affairs, he applied for its extension even on leave without pay. The appellant was satisfied about the sanction of his applied leave but suddenly on 16-4-1971, a charge-sheet was served upon him by Director Health Services.
The appellant submitted his reply but the respondent No, 4 without providing him an opportunity of being heard, passed the impugned order which was communicated to the appellant on 15-12-1971.
The appeal submitted against the impugned order was dismissed by the Health Minister on 6-4- 1989 about whom the appellant came to know on 6-8-1989.
4. I have heard the preliminary arguments and perused the record. The appellant preferred the appeal Annexure 'F' against the impugned order before Health Minister on 7-11-1986, whereas the appellant should have preferred his appeal or application for review, as the case may be, against the impugned order within the prescribed period provided under K.S.R., as was applicable then. The departmental remedy availed of beyond prescribed period of 90 days under Article 50 of K.S.R. (Vol. II) does not fulfil the legal requirement. The learned counsel for the appellant has frankly conceded that the departmental remedy against the impugned order has not been availed of within time. It may be pertinent to refer to section 4 of the Service Tribunal Act, 1975 (to be referred hereinafter as the Act) which reads as follows:-- "4. Appeal to Tribunals.--(1) Any civil servant aggrieved by any final order, whether original or appellate, made by a departmental authority, in respect of any of the terms and conditions of his service, may, within thirty days of the communication of such order to him or within six months of the establishment of the appropriate Tribunal, whichever is later, prefer appeal to the Tribunal: Provided that--
(a) Where an appeal, review or representation to a departmental authority is provided under the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Civil Servants Act, 1976 or any rules, against any such order, no appeal shall lie to a Tribunal unless the aggrieved civil servant has preferred an appeal or application for review or representation to such departmental authority and a period of ninety days has elapsed from the date on which such appeal, application or representation was so preferred.".
' It may be observed that under section 4(a) of the Act, it has been provided that an appeal by an aggrieved civil servant against a final order shall only be preferred after availing of the departmental remedy within the prescribed period, but the present appeal is not maintainable due to the lack of jurisdiction caused by the failure of the appellant by not availing of departmental remedy within the prescribed period before invoking the jurisdiction of this Tribunal.
5. For the foregoing reasons the appeal stands dismissed in limine.