Jammu & Kashmir High Court - Srinagar Bench
2025:Jklhc-Sgr:288 vs Ut Of Jammu And Kashmir And Ors on 31 October, 2025
Author: Javed Iqbal Wani
Bench: Javed Iqbal Wani
2025:JKLHC-SGR:288
Sr. No. 04
HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT SRINAGAR
Case No. :- WP(C) No. 1415/2023
Reserved on: 15.09.2025
Pronounced on: 31.10.2025
Uploaded on: 03 .11.2025
Whether the operative part
or full judgment is pronounced O. part
Nazir Ahmad Bhat and ors. .... Petitioner(s)
Through:- Mr. Sheikh Mushtaq, Advocate.
V/s
UT of Jammu and Kashmir and ors. ....Respondent(s)
Through:- Mr. Faheem Shah, GA.
Mr. Tasaduq Hussain, Advocate.
Case No. :- WP(C) No. 411/2023
Nazir Ahmad Bhat and ors. .... Petitioner(s)
Through:- Mr. Sheikh Mushtaq, Advocate.
V/s
UT of Jammu and Kashmir and ors. ....Respondent(s)
Through:- Mr. Faheem Shah, GA.
Mr. Tasaduq Hussain, Advocate.
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JAVED IQBAL WANI, JUDGE
JUDGMENT
1. The issues involved in the instant petitions are akin and analogous
to each other, as such, the petitions are being disposed of, at this stage,
with the consent of appearing counsels for the parties.
2. (i) The petitioners in the instant petition have prayed for the
following reliefs:-
a. Writ of Mandamus commanding upon the respondents to
accord consideration for inclusion of petitioners for
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registration on MC portal for purpose of regularization of
their services in terms ofSRO-520 of 2017.
b. Writ of Mandamus commanding upon the respondents to
allow the petitioners to discharge their duties till their case is
considered for regularization and other consequential benefits
from the date the petitioners completed of their 7 years
services and release wages in favor of the petitioners without
causing any impediment in the same.
c. A writ of Mandamus commanding upon the respondents to
prepare and fix the seniority of the petitioners along with
other eligible candidates/workers.
d. A writ of prohibition prohibiting the respondents to take any
action on the bases of communication Vide
No.SE/O&M/GBLAS/6438-39 dated 31-03-2021 and ensure
that the petitioners and other bonafidely candidates are not
deprived of the benefit of regularization by resorting to
arbitrary, selective and back door engagement in the
respondent department. The Hon'ble Court may as well be
pleased to direct appropriate action for inclusion of
candidates in the communication dated 31.03.2021byrestoring
to favoritism and back door engagements of 37candidates.
e. Any other writ, order, or direction which this Hon'ble Court
may deem proper in the attending circumstances of the case
may also be issued in favor of the petitioners and against the
respondents."
(ii) The aforesaid reliefs are prayed on the premise that the
petitioners came to be engaged as permanent daily rated workers in the
respondent department in the year 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 respectively
before imposition of ban by the Government in terms of Government
Order No. 43-F of 2015 dated 17.03.2015 and that the respondent 3 in
terms of Communication dated 14.07.2017 furnished an information
regarding 608 daily rated workers to respondent 1 herein working in
Sub-Transmission Division (STD) Ganderbal for consideration of their
cases under the provisions of SRO 520 of 2017 for their regular
engagement and in the said list, the petitioners figured at Serial Nos. 569,
557, 596, 590 29, 44, 47, 52, 54, 73, 77, 81, 92, 94, 95, 114, 119, 128, 143,
150, 159, 162, 163, 165, 167, 18l, 186, 187, 188, 189, 196, 197, 199, 200,
201, 202, 203, 207, 217, 227, 235, 239, 265, 286, 299, 303, 310, 311, 318,
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321, 307, 407, 409, 411, 425, 431, 439, 440, 443, 448, 452, 456, 461, 465,
469, 475, 476, 483, 484, 487, 489, 494, 501, 502, 503, 507, 519, 521,525,
531, 537, 540, 548, 550, 552, 558, 561, 562, 566, 573 575, 580, 583, 584,
587, 591, 595, 598, 599, 600, 605 & 607 and that in the year 2018 as well,
the respondent 6 in terms of Communication No. CE/M & RE/55991-
92/DPC dated 10.02.2018 furnished another list of 68 left over need based
workers to respondent 5, who had been engaged before the imposition of
ban contained in order dated 17.03.2017 and in the said list, the petitioner
Nos. 103-119 are figuring at Serial Nos. 3, 4, 5, 20, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32,
33, 39, 46, 51, 55, 64 & 66 and that thereafter the respondent 5, in terms
of Communication dated 31.03.2021, furnished a list of 472 casual/need
based workers working in PDD Wing Ganderbal to respondent 4, however,
dropping therein the names of the petitioners figuring at Serial Nos. 3, 6, 9,
16, 26, 36, 38, 24, 51,77, 124, 187, 188, 189, 210, 215, 256, 258, 269, 261,
290, 312,322, 335, 347, 348, 366, 367, 368, 370, 432, 433, 436, 447, 449,
460 & 467 for appropriate action under the provisions of SRO 520 of
2017 and in fact in the said list, the names of 37 candidates were
arbitrarily and illegally included against the names of the petitioners, as
the said 37 candidates were not earlier included in the lists prepared by the
respondents and the petitioners, thus, aggrieved of the said list dated
31.03.2021 as well as dropping of the petitioners from the said list,
maintained the instant petition on the premise that non-inclusion of the
names of the petitioners in the list dated 31.03.2021 deprives them of their
consideration for regularization under SRO 520 of 2017 despite the fact
the petitioners having put in regular continuous service.
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3. Objections to the instant petition have been filed by the
official respondents, wherein the petition is being opposed, inter-alia, on
the premise that none of the legal, constitutional and fundamental rights of
the petitioners have been infringed or violated, while admitting that the
petitioners were engaged on temporary basis as and when required by the
answering respondents and were also paid the wages for the period they
worked and that the petitioners' CVs have been found prepared after
imposition of the ban imposed by the Government vide Order dated
17.03.2025, as such, the names of the petitioners were not forwarded to
the higher authorities for further necessary action and that the allegations
made against the answering respondents are false, as the respondents have
not made any backdoor appointments of 37 PDL/TDL and that the said 37
appointees had been engaged prior to the imposition of ban envisaged
under order dated 17.03.2015 and also their CVs were found in the
records of the concerned Division as well as their wages were found to
have been released to them before imposition of the ban and that none of
the petitioners are currently working on the muster rolls, as such, are not
entitled to the benefits of SRO 520 of 2017 and that since the names of the
petitioners were not traced from the records including muster rolls
although their CV's were found to have been drawn after imposition of
ban, the petitioners were not, thus, included in the list of 472 appointees
prepared by the answering respondents and that merely uploading of
Adhaars of the petitioners did not entitle them to the benefits under SRO
520 of 2017, as they were not found existing in the muster rolls or else
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working in the department and, therefore, not being similarly situated with
472 appointees, the petitioners cannot claim any parity with them.
4. In the instant petition, the petitioners have prayed for the
following reliefs:-
a. Writ of Certioari, quashing the impugned seniority list No.
SE/DBM/KPDCL/GBL/DPC-4507-13 dated 23.12.2023 to the
extent of the private respondents, inasmuch as the same is illegal,
bad in la and having been passed in violation of the judgment
passed in LPA No. 147 of 2023 titled Nazir Ahmad Bhat and ors. Vs.
UT of J&K and ors.
Or in alternative
b. Writ of Mandamus, commanding upon the respondents, to include
the names of the petitioners in the afore-stated list, at their
appropriate places and submit the case of the petitioners before the
competent authority for according the benefit of regularization to
the petitioners in accordance with the law.
c. Writ of Prohibition, prohibiting the respondents, to act upon the
impugned seniority list to the prejudice of rights of the petitioners.
d. Any other relief, order, or direction, which this Hon'ble Court
deems fit and proper, may also be granted in favour of the
petitioner and against the respondents under the facts and
circumstances of the case."
(i) The instant petition came to be filed by the petitioners during
the pendency of WP(C) No. 1415/2023 (supra) after the official
respondents issued a tentative list of PDL's/TDL's of District
Ganderbal/Bandipura vide Circular dated 23.12.2023 and according to the
petitioners, the said list came to be drawn and framed by the official
respondents, ignoring the claim of the petitioners being similarly situated
to the private respondents, whose names were included in the said list
dated 23.12.2023 and that although the petitioners owing to the
non-inclusion of their names earlier by the official respondents in the list
of PDL's/TDL's, the petitioners had filed WP(C) 1415/2023, challenging
their said non-inclusion, as also depriving them of their regularization
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under SRO 520 of 2017 in which petition, the Court did not initially pass
any interim order, which compelled the petitioners to file a Letters Patent
Appeal before the Division Bench being LPA No. 147/2023, which came
to be disposed of on 09.08.2023 by providing that if the services of the
appellants therein before the Appellate Court being petitioners herein have
not been terminated, their services be not discontinued and their legitimate
entitlements may be given to them, while further providing that since the
interim order is passed before the filing of response by the respondents,
the respondents can seek modification of the interim order before the
learned Single Judge and that the official respondents could not have
issued the Circular dated 23.12.2023 as the claim of the petitioners was
sub-judice before this Court in WP(C) No. 1415/2023 (supra) and, as such,
the circular is bad in law and that though the objections to the said
Circular came to be submitted by the petitioners, the said objections were
not considered, thus, necessitating the filing of the instant petition.
5. Objections to the instant petition have also been filed by the
official respondents, wherein the petition is being opposed on the ground
that the petitioners were engaged on temporary basis as and when required
by the answering respondents and have been paid their wages for the
period they worked, while reiterating that the CV's of the petitioners were
found to have been prepared after the imposition of ban by the
Government vide order dated 17.03.2015, as such, the names of the
petitioners were not included in the list of 472 PDL's/TDL's and that the
petitioners have concealed and suppressed the material fact that pursuant
to an order of the Managing Director dated 14.07.2022, a Committee
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came to be constituted for conducting an in-depth inquiry in the matter of
alleged fraud and manipulation in the daily wagers' list of STD-Ganderbal,
which Committee under the Chairmanship of Superintending Engineer
O&M submitted a report on 12.04.2023 and that the in-depth inquiry
conducted by the said Committee found that 128 persons including the
petitioners herein do not exist on regular wages list/muster rolls of the
Division/Sub-Division and their CV's were found to have been prepared
after imposition of the ban and that 465 number of PDL's/TDL's/need
based workers are on rolls and physically working in STD-Ganderbal at
present, who are receiving regular wages and that the said report was duly
acknowledged and accepted by the Administrative Department in terms of
Letter dated 10.05.2024.
Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the
record including the inquiry report produced by the learned counsel
for the respondents.
6. It is significant to mention here that in terms of order dated
16.12.2024, a better affidavit has been filed by the respondents 5 & 6,
wherein it has been stated that the petitioners were engaged on temporary
basis as and when required and have been paid for the work rendered by
them and that the CV's of the petitioners were found to have been
prepared after imposition of the ban by the Government, as such, the
names of the petitioners were not forwarded to the higher ups for further
necessary action and that none of the petitioners are currently working on
the muster rolls of the department and, as such, are not entitled to the
benefits under SRO 520 of 2017, reiterating therein in the said affidavit
that a Committee was constituted by the Managing Director in the matter
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in terms of the order dated 14.07.2022, which Committee headed by the
Superintending Engineer O&M Circle-Ganderbal inquired into the issues
and submitted a detailed report on 12.04.2023 and found that 128 persons
including the petitioners do not exist on regular wage list/muster rolls of
the Division/Sub-Divisions and that CV's of the said persons were found
to have been prepared after imposition of ban.
7. Having regard to the case set up by the petitioners in both the
petitions, the fundamental grievance projected is that they were engaged
and have been working as daily rated workers with the respondents and
that their names were included in the list of Daily Wager prepared by the
official respondents earlier, however, later their names were not included
in the list of 472 PDL's/TDL's framed by the respondents, which
non-inclusion deprived the petitioners from seeking their regularization
under and in terms of SRO 520 of 2017 and that in place of the petitioners,
the respondents included 37 appointees therein in the said list arbitrarily at
the cost of the petitioners.
8. Record tends to show that the aforesaid grievance of the
petitioners has been vehemently opposed, controverted and resisted by the
official respondents in the reply filed to the petitions, primarily, on the
basis of a report of inquiry Committee constituted by the Managing
Director O&M. A closer examination of the said report would reveal that
the Committee consisted of the Chairman being Superintending Engineer
O&M Circle Ganderbal, as also the two members being Technical Officer
to Chief Engineer (Distribution) as well as the Administrative Officer
(Distribution), besides various co-opted officers for rendering assistance
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the Committee in conducting verification and investigation in the matter
in a transparent manner and it also gets reveals that the Committee had
sought and obtained records from the concerned Division being
Sub-Transmission Division, Ganderbal and consequently, found that 465
number of PDL's/TDL's/need based workers are on rolls and are
physically working in STD-Ganderbal at present excluding the petitioners
herein.
9. Having regard to the aforesaid position obtaining in the
matter, i.e., the findings of the aforesaid Inquiry Committee, which report
indisputably has not been either objected to by the petitioners or else
thrown challenge to the till date, the respondents cannot be said to have
faulted in the matter or else infringed any of the rights of the petitioners,
entitling them to invoke the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Court.
10. Viewed, thus, for what has been observed, considered and
analyzed hereinabove, the writ petitions fail and are, accordingly,
dismissed along with connected applications.
(JAVED IQBAL WANI)
JUDGE
JAMMU
31.10.2025
Ram Krishan
Whether the order is speaking? Yes
Whether the order is reportable? Yes/No
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