Delayed appointments perpetuated injustice in seniority; retrospective benefits must align with procedural fairness.

ORDER

Per Hon’ble Member (A), Prasant Kumar

The instant TA No. 3433 of 2021 was originally filed as SWP No. 2291 of 2018 before the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir. Vide Order dated 19.10.2020, the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir transferred the case to the Jammu Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal and was numbered as TA No. 3433 of 2021. The case was first listed before the Srinagar Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal on 08.12.2021.

2. The petitioners are aggrieved of their position in the seniority list of Patwaris in District Budgam and pray for retrospective benefit of their appointment. Accordingly, the petitioners pray for the following reliefs –

(I) By issuance of a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, the impugned seniority list prepared by respondent no.5 and forwarded to respondent no.3 in terms of his communication dated 28.06.2018, be set aside; And

(II) By issuance of a writ of mandamus or any other writ, order or direction, the respondents be commanded to give retrospective effect to the order of appointments of the petitioners and to give all the consequential benefits of such retrospective appointment to the petitioners.

(III) By issuance of a writ of mandamus or any other writ, order or direction, the respondents be commanded to prepare the seniority list of the Patwaries of District Cadre Budgam in the manner provided by law and show the petitioners in the said seniority list ahead of all those, who have not responded to the advertisement notice dated 07.03.1995, but were appointed against the post of Patwari illegally and in suppression of the rights and interests of the petitioners ahead of them.

(IV) The Hon’ble Court may also pass any other order or direction as it may deem fit and proper under the facts and circumstances of the case.

3. The case of the petitioners, as made out in the instant TA No. 3433 of 2021, is that vide Advertisement Notice No.SSB-3 of 1995, dated 07.03.1995, applications were invited for selection of candidates to undergo Patwar Training in Revenue Training Institute, Jammu/ Srinagar. It was also stated that the successful candidates after training will be eligible for appointment as Patwaries/ Office Patwaries/ Consolidation Patwaries if they have requisite qualifications. Selection was to be made for 21 vacancies for District Budgam and 17 vacancies for District Pulwama. The petitioners applied for the district Budgam and appeared in the written test. Upon qualification the petitioners appeared in the viva- voce on the appointed date. The J&K Service Selection Board did not publish the result of candidates for district Budgam but published the selection list of 17 candidates of Pulwama district on 23.10.1998.

4. Feeling aggrieved of the non-publication of select list for the district Budgam, the petitioners represented before all the concerned and as the grievances were not redressed various writ petitions were filed before the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir praying for issuance of select list of candidates and appoint the successful candidates as Patwaries and no fresh process of selection of candidates for undergoing Patwar Training / appointment as Patwari should be initiated by the Recruitment Board. While the writ petitions were still pending before the Hon’ble Court, the J&K Service Selection Board issued another advertisement notice no.2 of 2000 dated 26.09.2000 and applications were invited for selection of candidates to undergo Patwar Training course in the Revenue Training Institute, Jammu / Srinagar. In the advertisement notice no.2 of 2000 dated 26.09.2000 it was also stated that the said notice supersedes the advertisement notice dated 07.03.1995