The court established that seniority and promotions must be based on the date of regularization, ensuring fair treatment among employees in similar positions.

ORDER

Per Hon’ble Mr. Rajinder Singh Dogra, J.M.

The applicants have filed the present application jointly because all the applicants are similarly situated and similarly circumstanced and apart from that, the facts are also identical and the grounds available to all the applicants are common and identical. Moreover, the relief prayed for by all the applicants are also common and identical.

2. The applicants have filed the present OA being aggrieved of the illegal promotion of respondents No. 5 to 9 to the post of Forest Guard made vide order dated 13.11.2020 and the final seniority list of 20190 of Class IV posts of Udhampur district issued by respondent No.4. The applicants have prayed for the following relief :

1. To quash the promotion of respondents 6 to 9 to the post of Forest Guard in the pay scale of 19900-63200 w.e.f 22.10.2020 made vide Forest Order No. 47 of 2020 dated 13.11.2020, by issuances of writ of Certiorari;

2. To quash the final seniority list of Class IV officials of Udhampur District issued vide Notification dated 04.09.2019, whereby, the seniority of Class IV employees regularized under SRO 64 on supernumerary posts (Helpers) including the applicants has been fixed from the date of re-designation and not from the date of regularization.

3. To direct the official respondents to fix the seniority of the applicants in the regular Class IV posts from the date of their regularization by issuance of writ of mandamus.

4. To direct the official respondents to promote the applicants to the post of Forest Guard w.e.f 22.10.2020 with all consequential benefits by issuance of writ of mandamus.

3. The fact of the case is that –

a) The applicants were initially engaged as Daily wagers in Udhampur Forest Division and thereafter, they were regularized against Class IV posts of Helper w.e.f. 1.4.1999, 1.4.2000 & 1.4.2001 respectively under SRO 64 of 1994.

b) The Government of Jammu and Kashmir notified the Jammu and Kashmir Forest (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 1991 vide SRO 335 dated 28.11.1991. These rules include different Class IV posts as feeding cadre for promotion to next higher posts including the post of Forest Guard but did not include the posts of Helper.

c) Since the aforementioned Recruitment Rules did not include the post of Helper and identify it as a Feeding cadre for next higher post, the Government vide order dated 3.9.2008 took a decision to re-designate the Helpers into Class IV posts mentioned in the recruitment Rules. The order dated 3.9.2008 was not acted upon by the respondents resulting in non-consideration of the case of the Helpers for promotion to the next higher posts.

d) The Helpers in Forest department including the present applicants agitated the matter before the respondents for seven long years and some of the applicants also filed writ petition before the Hon'ble High Court, wherein, a direction was issued to the respondents to accord consideration to the conversion of the posts held by the applicants (Helpers) and thereafter promotion to next higher posts. Ultimately, in the year 2015, the Government accorded sanction to the re-designation of 1614 Helpers of Forest department in the existing hierarchies of the department by virtue of Government Order No. 213-FST of 2015 dated 19.8.2015.

e) Consequent upon the issuance of the order dated 19.8.2015, the applicants No.1 to 7, 12 and 13 were re-designated as Watcher, applicants No. 8 & 14 were re designated as Orderly, applicants No. 9 and 11 as Chowkidar and applicant No. 10 was re-designated as Frash. After the re-designation of the applicants in the existing hierarchies of the department, a Tentative seniority list of Class IV employees (District Udha