Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 29: The Division Bench of the High Court today set aside the writ court judgment directing the authorities to regularize the daily wagers from the date they completed seven years continuously in service.
The HC observed that completion of seven years only by a daily wager would not entitle him for regularization.
Though their services were regularized by the Government from the date they were eligible in 2009 but they were seeking regularization retrospectively. They were engaged in March 1994 and were seeking regularization from April 2001.
The petitioners contended that they approached the authorities in this regard and sought extension of all service benefits like seniority, promotion, pensionary benefits and all monetary benefits retrospectively as has been granted to one of their colleague, Rashida Akhtar, but their requests and representations made in this regard did not evoke any response from the respondents compelling them to approach the court.
The writ court, it is noted here, had directed the authorities to give effect to their regularization with effect from the date they have completed seven years of continuous daily-wagership and complete the exercise within a period of four weeks.
Aggrieved of the writ court verdict, the Government challenged the same in an appeal and the Division Bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Javed Iqbal Wani while allowing the appeal set aside the writ court verdict and dismissed the plea of aggrieved daily wagers.
The DB while referring to the case of one Rashida Akhtar said admittedly there has been no relaxation required either in the matter of age or qualification in the case of Rashida Akhtar while authorities have considered her case for regularization.
“The distinction between the cases of the daily wagers and that of the Rashida Akhtar is writ large on the face of the record. The aggrieved daily wagers and the said Rashida Akhtar in fact have had been unequally circumstanced, as such, could not have been treated at par, as unequals in law cannot be treated as equals”, the DB recorded.
Court said a daily rated worker would become eligible for regularization on fulfillment of all the conditions as laid in SRO 64 of 1994 and not only on completion of seven years in service. All the conditions, court added, are inter-dependent and have to be fulfilled by a daily wager whose case is to be considered for regularization.
“Completion of seven years of continuous period of daily wage service alone thus would not entitle a daily wager for regularization unless such daily wager fulfills other eligibility conditions. Since the writ petitioners admittedly had been lacking the qualification and age conditions, as such, the authorities initiated a process for the relaxation of the same and upon concluding and finalizing the same accorded regularization to them in terms of the order of regularization in 2009”, read the judgment.
Court said the petitioners acquired and got possessed of the complete eligibility only after such relaxation in the year 2009, therefore, came to be regularized rightly from said date by the authorities.
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