Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday condemned the alleged verbal abuse of a woman Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) officer by senior IAS officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan and said he had raised the matter in the “strongest possible terms” with the chief secretary. He also directed the chief secretary to ensure the woman officer faced no retribution after Ranjan allegedly threatened to recommend her dismissal.
“I've seen the video of the online meeting that is circulating on social media. Prima facie, the conduct of the senior bureaucrat was not in keeping with the standards expected of a senior IAS officer, and the subsequent threats issued to a junior JKAS officer only make matters worse.
“I've taken this up in the strongest possible terms with the chief secretary. Unfortunately, a UT's control over IAS officers rests with the Lok Bhavan, but as chief minister, I've instructed the chief secretary to ensure that the JKAS officer faces no retributive action,” Abdullah said.
Ranjan has come under fire after a video purportedly showed him verbally abusing Assistant Director Beenish Wani during a review meeting on Mission YUVA, during a discussion on the role of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered an in-depth inquiry into the incident and appointed 2004-batch IAS officer and Commissioner-Secretary to the Housing and Urban Development Department Mandeep Kaur as the inquiry officer, an official order said.
She has been asked to submit her report within 15 days of the order’s issuance.
The JKAS fraternity on Thursday condemned the alleged abuse and public humiliation of Wani and demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday called for Ranjan’s expulsion from Jammu and Kashmir for using abusive language against the woman officer.
The three-time chief minister said that had such an incident occurred when Jammu and Kashmir was a state and he was in office, he would have put the officer on a plane and sent him away.
“The language he used was completely wrong; he should be reprimanded. This shows that he lacks the decency and conduct an officer ought to possess. Officers are duty-bound to listen to the people, who only want to present their grievances,” Farooq Abdullah said.
"But screaming after that, saying 'get out, get out' -- that is entirely wrong. He should be expelled from Jammu and Kashmir. He is not one of those officers who should be here. If he remains an officer here, he will find the consequences very difficult," he added, emphasising that whether one is an officer or a minister, they exist to serve the people.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti termed the IAS officer’s behaviour "erratic and disdainful" and urged CM Abdullah to take up the matter with the Centre.
The row erupted after Ranjan, a 2010-batch IAS officer posted as Administrative Secretary, Labour and Employment in the J&K government, allegedly repeatedly interrupted Wani, assistant director at the District Employment and Counselling Centre in Ganderbal, when she was briefing the meeting about the targets achieved by her office.
According to PTI’s account of the video, Ranjan shouted at Wani, told her to “shut up” and allegedly hurled expletives at her. He also asked whether she would remain silent.
Wani said she needed to explain her position, but Ranjan asked her to stop talking and allegedly called her “bloody shit”.
“I can always talk like that. I am your boss, stupid,” Ranjan said.
After Wani objected to his abusive language, Ranjan instructed another woman officer present in the room to prepare a suspension order against her.
“It is fine, you can suspend,” Wani said.
PTI reported that, as the exchange continued, Wani allegedly said “to hell with you”. Ranjan then asked his subordinate to record her words in the suspension order.
“Record this and write to the GAD how she should be thrown out of the service,” he added, referring to the General Administration Department.
Neither Ranjan nor Wani was available for comment.
Ranjan is also under CBI investigation over alleged irregularities in issuing thousands of arms licenses to non-residents in Jammu and Kashmir. A disproportionate assets case was also registered against him and his family members in 2025. He previously served as deputy commissioner of Kupwara.