No rules were bent for the appointment of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's grandson as research officer, an autonomous body of Jammu and Kashmir's Tourism department said here today. Reacting to media reports in a national daily today, the spokesman for Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) said proper selection procedure was followed in the appointment.

The post for the research officer was advertised on October 3 last year for which 196 applications were received. Out of these, interview letters were sent out to 35 candidates, he said. The interviews for the post were held in November last following which Anees-ul-Islam, grandson of Geelani was selected.

Anees had topped the merit list prepared by the five-member interview panel, the spokesman said. He said the SKICC had received the clearance from the state Criminal Investigation Department late last month, and nothing adverse was found against Anees. "The selection was done in a transparent manner and anyone can access the files as well as the notings through an RTI," the spokesman added.