Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 3: High Court today directed the State to regularize the services of those daily rated workers, who have completed seven years of service.
This judgment has been passed by First Puisine Judge Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar in a petition filed by Swarn Singh.
“The petitioner claims to be a daily rated worker in the Department of Public Health Engineering since 1992, which is disputed by counsel for the respondents by stating that petitioner was engaged in the year 1996. Be that as it may, at the first instance petitioner seeks benefit of appointment on the ground that 50% of agricultural land belonging to the family of the petitioner was acquired by the respondents in the year 1992 for construction of a tube-well, therefore, he was entitled for appointment on the basis of SRO 181 of 1988”, Justice Ramalingam observed.
However, the plea was rejected by the Chief Engineer PHE vide his letter dated May 8, 2002 by holding that petitioner donated the land voluntarily which is less than 50% of his total land and SRO 181 was withdrawn in 1991 whereas the land was acquired in the year 1992, therefore, petitioner was not eligible for appointment.
“The rejection order was challenged in SWP No. 1572/2001 and the objection of the respondents appeared to be justified, because SRO 181 of 1988 comes with a shelf life and that period has already expired and that the petitioner was not qualified because land was donated subsequently and he does not fall within that criteria”, High Court said.
“The alternate prayer of the petitioner is that he should be considered for regularization in terms of Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work-charged Employees (Regularization) Rules, 1994 notified vide SRO 64 and in terms of Govt. Order dated 06.11.2001, wherein, it is accorded that under Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/ Work-charged Employees (Regularization) Rules, 1994 the daily rated workers who were engaged prior to January 31, 1991 were eligible for regularization after completing seven years of continuous service”, High Court said.
After hearing both the sides, High Court disposed of petition with the direction to the respondents to regularize the services of the petitioner on completion of seven years of continuous service.
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