Point of Law: Employment and Service matter - Regularization of services - Challenged - Absence of any document or material in rebuttal from University authorities it can safely be stated that all the four writ petitioners, though engaged on contractual/casual basis, were performing the duties of Junior Professional Assistants.

JUDGMENT :

Sanjay Dhar, J.

1. By this common judgment and order, we propose to decide three intra court appeals arising out of impugned judgment dated 25.04.2016 passed by the learned writ court in SWP No.446/2015 as also two writ petitions bearing SWP No.228/2017 and SWP No.1578/2018.

2. LPA(SW) No.90/2016 has been filed by one Sabha Ali who happened to be respondent No.8 in SWP No.446/2015, which stands decided vide the impugned judgment. LPASW No.114/2016 has been filed by the University of Kashmir-respondent No.1 in SWP No.446/2015. The University has filed another LPA bearing No.184/2017 challenging order dated 27.10.2016 passed by the writ court in SWP No.1637/2015, whereby the aforesaid writ petition has been disposed of and decided in terms of impugned judgment dated 25.04.2016 passed in SWP No.446/2015.

3. Writ petition bearing SWP No.228/2017 has been filed by Sabha Ali challenging the scheme of regularization of casual workers issued by the University of Kashmir vide Notification No.F(Regular-Casual/Const.Gen.Admn)KU/14 dated 03.09. 2014, whereas, writ petition SWP No.1578/2018 has been filed by Rehana Nazir seeking a mandamus against the University of Kashmir for her appointment to the post of Junior Professional Assistant.

4. Since the controversy involved in all these cases is identical in nature, as such, the same were taken up for analogous hearing.

5. Briefly stated the facts giving rise to the afore noted cases are that the writ petitioners, namely Zahoor Hussain, Masooda Bano and Zeenat-ul-Nissa came to be engaged on contractual/casual basis by the University Of Kashmir. While the writ petitioner, Zahoor Hussain was engaged in terms of order issued by the respondent-University of Kashmir on 29.08.2007, the writ petitioner-Zeenat-ul-Nissa came to be engaged by the University of Kashmir vide order dated 27.12.2007 and the writ petitioner-Masooda Bano was engaged in terms of order issued by the University on 13.12.2007. The above named writ petitioners claim that they were engaged as Junior Professional Assistants on sanctioned posts, though on contractual/casual basis, whereas, the respondent-University of Kashmir claims that the writ petitioners were engaged on casual basis for rendering help like Orderlies and that they were not engaged against the sanctioned posts of Junior Professional Assistants.

6. It is not in dispute that the aforementioned three writ petitioners continued to work on contractual/casual basis for more than seven years. It appears that the University of Kashmir invited applications for the posts of Junior Professional Assistants on a few occasions setting into motion the process of regular selection, to which even the writ petitioners responded, but it seems that the respondent-University of Kashmir did not take forward the selection process and ultimately invited fresh applications for filling up the posts of the Junior Professional Assistants in terms of its Advertisement Notification No.V of 2014 dated 09.05.2014. On 4th March, 2015 notice was issued by the authorities of the University of Kashmir for conducting written test for the posts of Junior Professional Assistants. It is at this stage that the writ petitioners filed SWP No.446/2015 challenging the Advertisement Notice No.V of 2014 dated 09.05.2014 and Notice dated 04.03.2015. The writ petitioners further claimed that they are entitled to regularization of their appointment as Junior Professional Assistants in terms of Notification dated 3rd September, 2014 issued by the University of Kashmir and sought a direction to this effect in the writ petition.

7. The writ petition was contested by the University of Kashmir by filing reply thereto. In its reply the University took a stand that the regularization policy issued vide Notification dated 3rd September, 2014 pertains and applies to regularization against the Class IV posts only and not to the higher posts like the posts of Junior Professional Assistants. It was further claimed that on