Srinagar, Feb. 26 -- In a case reflecting decades of struggle and quiet suffering, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Srinagar Bench, has set aside a government order that treated nearly 30 years of service of an octogenarian retired employee as "dies non", and directed the authorities to reconsider the matter after granting him a fair hearing.

The order was passed by M.S. Latif, Member (Judicial), in a petition that began its journey before the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir in 2011.

The applicant, Mohammad Shafi Zargar, a resident of Khawajapora Nowshera, Srinagar, had challenged Government Order No. 1168 GAD of 2010 dated October 18, 2010, which declared the period from October 1973 to June 22, 2003 as "dies non", meaning it w...