A video showing a senior IAS officer allegedly hurling abuses at a woman Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) officer during an official review meeting has triggered a political and administrative controversy. The JKAS fraternity demands an impartial inquiry and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has written to the chief secretary to ensure that the woman officer faces no retaliation.
The incident reportedly occurred on October 14 during a virtual review meeting of Mission Youth Upliftment and Vibrant Advancement (YUVA), chaired by Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, the administrative secretary of the Labour and Employment Department.
The video, which has circulated widely on social media, shows Ranjan losing his temper during a discussion over the role of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in implementing the programme. The woman officer, Beenish Wani, is an assistant director in the Labour and Employment Department.
“Why do you need NRLM? Tell me. Apna kaam doosre ko de dete ho (You pass your work on to others),” Ranjan is heard saying, questioning why another agency was needed to carry out the work assigned to departmental officers.
“If NRLM’s work had to be done, why would I give it to the Assistant Director? Why would the Chief Secretary have given this work to me? He would have given it to Managing Director NRLM,” he said.
Wani attempted to explain the agency’s role, saying NRLM was not the main authority but could assist the department and that the targets had been completed.
“They are just a helping tool, they have never been an authority,” Ranjan said, according to the video.
As Wani continued to respond, Ranjan interrupted her and told her to “shut up”. Wani objected to his language and insisted that she needed to speak to explain her position.
The exchange escalated, with Ranjan heard saying, “You are bloody shit! I can always talk to you like this.”
“No, you cannot call me shit,” Wani replied.
“I am your boss, stupid,” Ranjan said.
Wani also challenged him, asking, “How dare you speak to me like that?” In response, Ranjan questioned her for speaking to him in that manner.
Ranjan then threatened to suspend her and asked officials present in his office to record her remarks in the proposed suspension order.
“Get out! Get out!” he told her, to which Wani replied, “To hell with you.”
He also directed officials to write to the General Administration Department (GAD), seeking action against her beyond the immediate suspension he had demanded.
“Immediately suspend her and write to GAD that she should be thrown out of the service! Dismissed from the service!” Ranjan shouted.
“Civil services rules mein is se zyada kuch nahi ho sakta (Under civil services rules, there cannot be anything more severe than this),” he added.
Ranjan accused Wani of failing to deliver results and questioned her conduct during the meeting.
“Aur yeh mujhe aake aankhein dikhayengi! (And she has the audacity to stare at me!),” he said. “Kaam aata khud nahi hai! (She doesn’t know the work herself!). Zero delivery hai! (There is zero delivery).”
Woman officer describes incident as traumatising
Wani confirmed the authenticity of the meeting video in comments to ETV Bharat, describing the experience as traumatising.
“I have informed higher authorities about this incident. I was on leave due to a fracture in my feet, but I attended the meeting since it was held virtually,” she said.
She also alleged that Ranjan told her that the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) was a place where people got appointed through “setting”.
“It was a traumatising experience,” she told the news outlet.
Kashmir Outlook attempted to contact Ranjan for his response to the allegations, but he did not respond.
Department questions circulation of video clips
The Labour and Employment Department issued a statement saying that selectively edited video clips from a review meeting chaired by the departmental secretary on October 14, between 3 pm and 6 pm, were circulating on social media.
The department said the complete recording of the meeting was available with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
It emphasised that mutual respect, discipline and professional decorum were essential in official interactions and that officers and officials were expected to maintain due respect towards their seniors while discharging their duties.
The department also said provocative remarks and inappropriate language had no place in professional administrative engagements, which should be guided by mutual respect, restraint and institutional dignity.
Expressing regret over the developments surrounding the meeting, it said the circulation of selectively edited clips without the complete context was a matter of concern.
The department described the clips as unverified and cautioned that selective editing of internal administrative discussions could create a misleading impression of the proceedings. It said the matter would be taken to its logical conclusion in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
It also appealed to the media and the public to exercise caution and refrain from sharing or relying on unverified and sensationalised content circulating on social media.
The JKAS Fraternity, however, said the video was authentic, citing Wani and other officials who were present during the virtual meeting. It also expressed concern over what it described as an attempt by the department to dismiss the circulating footage as AI-generated and fabricated.
The fraternity said that while it unequivocally supported administrative accountability and performance monitoring, no supervisory authority could justify abusive language, intimidation or conduct that undermined the dignity of a serving officer.
It urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and the General Administration Department to order an impartial inquiry into the incident.
The authenticity and full context of the circulating footage have not been independently established by Kashmir Outlook. The department has said the complete recording is available with the NIC.
Omar Abdullah seeks protection for woman officer
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has taken serious note of the alleged verbal abuse and written to the chief secretary to ensure that Wani does not face retaliation, National Conference chief spokesperson and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq said on Friday.
In a post on X, Sadiq said, “Accountability must prevail, and no one should be allowed to misuse their position to intimidate or victimise others.”
People’s Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti condemned the alleged conduct and demanded immediate action against Ranjan.
“How dare you use such derogatory and demeaning language? Take your god complex and dirty slurs elsewhere. We will not tolerate this in Kashmir,” she said in a post on X.
Mufti alleged that since 2019, KAS officers and competent Kashmiri IAS officers had been deliberately sidelined, claiming that local officers in the administration and police were being undermined and made subservient to officers from outside the Union Territory.
Addressing Abdullah and Sinha, she said the officer should be suspended immediately, arguing that the same standards should apply to senior officials as those applied to Kashmiri employees facing disciplinary action.
Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi also criticised the alleged conduct, accusing the senior bureaucrat of threatening the woman officer’s career after she sought to finish speaking during the meeting.
Ruhullah called on the lieutenant governor and chief secretary to ensure that Wani was not victimised for standing up for herself.
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mehraj Malik also criticised the incident in a post on X.
“This is what these Dictators brought from outside J&K are doing with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in Jammu and Kashmir,” Malik wrote, referring to Ranjan as an IAS officer from Bihar and Wani as a JKAS officer from Jammu and Kashmir. He described the incident as shameful.
JKAS officer Mantasha Binti Rashid also criticised the alleged conduct, saying that official high-handedness could not be accepted or tolerated.
“What happens in these meetings is often humiliating and demeaning. Senior officers need to know what’s acceptable and where to draw a line, especially dealing with local officers who often know much more about the matters on ground,” she wrote on Facebook.
Ranjan’s earlier controversies
Ranjan, a 2010-batch IAS officer, was prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a 2018 case concerning alleged illegal issuance of arms licences in Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir government subsequently suspended him.
He was reinstated in February 2021 following recommendations from a review committee and is currently out on bail.
The latest controversy has prompted calls for an impartial inquiry into the meeting and for the administration to ensure that Wani is not subjected to disciplinary action or other retaliation for challenging the alleged conduct.
