J&K High Court Dismisses BSF Jawan Khursheed Ahmad Khan’s Plea Over Forced Retirement Row

Srinagar, 1 October 2026: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed the petition of Khursheed Ahmad Khan, a Border Security Force personnel who challenged the acceptance of his voluntary retirement by the Commandant of 50 Battalion BSF at Praharinagar, Tura in Meghalaya. Justice Rajnesh Oswal held that the court lacked territorial jurisdiction to entertain the plea because the relevant events took place in Tura, outside the court’s jurisdiction.

Background to the dispute

Khan had joined the BSF in March 1998. In January 2018, he was allowed to keep a neatly trimmed beard, but only on the condition that it remained neat and properly trimmed. According to his petition, that permission was withdrawn suddenly on 16 June 2023. He said the withdrawal caused him distress and led him to submit an application for voluntary retirement on the same day. The commandant accepted the request immediately.

Khan later tried to withdraw his retirement application, but that request was rejected. An order dated 5 July 2023 directed him to draw pension and not to resume duty. He also said that a representation sent to the Director General, BSF, on 19 July 2024 was not considered. In his plea, he argued that the withdrawal of beard permission was vindictive and that his retirement was not voluntary.

BSF’s stand

The BSF told the court that the 2018 beard permission was conditional and that Khan had violated the terms of that permission. According to the force, on 16 June 2023 he was found shabbily dressed and wearing a long, free-flowing and untrimmed beard, contrary to force regulations and Supreme Court directions. He allegedly refused to trim it, after which the permission was withdrawn.

The respondents further said Khan himself sought voluntary retirement after a parade. They stated that he was heard by the Commandant in the presence of other officers and specifically denied that he was acting under duress or compulsion. The proceedings were recorded. The BSF also said Khan referred to his mother’s illness and his own inability, because of his medical category, to bear the conditions of service. The competent authority then considered his circumstances, service record and recent conduct, relaxed the three-month notice period and accepted his request with immediate effect at Tura.

According to the force, Khan had 13 adverse entries, including for absence without leave and intoxication, and was in a permanent low medical category.

Court’s ruling on jurisdiction

The BSF raised a preliminary objection that the court did not have jurisdiction, and Justice Oswal accepted that objection. The judge noted that both the retirement application and the impugned order were made at Tura in Meghalaya, which lies outside the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Under Article 226 of the Constitution, a writ court can act only if the cause of action arises wholly or in part within its territory. The court observed that even a part of the cause of action can confer jurisdiction only if it is an integral, essential or material part of the dispute. In Khan’s case, the court found no such part arising within Jammu and Kashmir.

The petitioner had also relied on the way the parties were arrayed in the case, but the court rejected that argument. It recorded that the Inspector General, BSF, Kashmir, had no connection with the dispute, while the relevant formation was the Inspector General, BSF, Shillong. The court also held that the presence of the Director General, BSF, in New Delhi did not permit any High Court in the country to hear the petition.

The court said the application was submitted and the order was passed at a place beyond its territorial jurisdiction, and that no cause of action had accrued within its limits. It therefore dismissed the petition at the threshold and left it open to Khan to approach the appropriate court with territorial jurisdiction.

The High Court did not examine the legality of the withdrawal of beard permission, whether Khan was compelled to retire, or whether the acceptance of his voluntary retirement was otherwise valid.