Long-serving daily rated workers are entitled to regularization under applicable provisions despite initial irregularities in engagement, as denying such benefits constitutes discrimination and violates constitutional rights.

ORDER

Per: - Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member

The instant case was initially filed before the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, praying therein the following reliefs: -

“i. directions in the nature of writ of mandamus directing the respondents to regularize the services of the petitioners on the analogy of the scheme of SRO-64 of 1994 and Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010 read with Government Order No. 329-FST of 2007 dated 14.06.2007 to uphold Article 14 of the Constitution of India and further allow the petitioners to remain in the engagements in which they are working for the last 14 to 15 years and are still in the said engagement till their cases are considered for regularization.”

2. Factual Background: -

i. The petitioners were engaged as daily rated workers during the years 1991–1994 in the Eco Task Force Division of the Forest Department. Their engagement was not pursuant to a formal advertisement or competitive selection, which was not the norm for such appointments at that time, particularly in departments operating in remote or ecologically sensitive areas like the Eco Task Force.

ii. Over time, these workers were assigned regular and essential duties ranging from plantation drives and nursery management to forest protection and fire control on a full-time basis. Many were issued identity cards and were marked present in muster rolls. They continued in service uninterruptedly for nearly three decades.

iii. Several similarly situated persons were regularized by the Department under SRO 64 of 1994 and later under the J&K Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010. However, the petitioners were excluded without any cogent RAJAT reasoning.

iv. SRO 64 of 1994, notified under the J&K Civil Services Rules, permitted regularization of workers who had completed seven years of continuous engagement as on 31.01.1994, subject to certain conditions. The intent was
to grant legal status to long-serving temporary employees performing regular duties.

v. The J&K Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010, further expanded the framework by providing a one-time regularization opportunity to workers engaged before January 1994 who had rendered seven years of service by 2004.

vi. These legal instruments, by design, are benevolent enactments to ensure that workers who served the government for extended periods are not left in limbo.

3. Issues for Determination: -

The following issues arise for determination:

i. Whether the petitioners have rendered qualifying service to be considered for regularization under the applicable rules.

ii. Whether the respondents’ denial of regularization amounts to discrimination under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

iii. Whether the decision in Jaggo v. Union of India (2024) is RAJAT applicable and determinative of the present case.

4. Analysis : -

The Tribunal, upon thorough consideration of the pleadings, documentary evidence, and the law applicable to the case, arrives at the following findings and observations:

I. Continuous Nature of Engagement and Duties Performed

i. The record indisputably shows that each of the 16 petitioners was engaged between 1991 and 1994 as daily rated workers in the Eco Task Force Division of the Forest Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. Muster rolls, service certificates, and duty registers confirm their continuous engagement without break for periods ranging from 25 to 30 years.

ii. These petitioners have been deployed in essential functions integral to the objectives of the Forest Department: afforestation activities, forest protection, management of nurseries, fire control measures, and general ecologi