ORDER

Per: - Rajinder Singh Dogra Judicial Member

1. The SWP No.1500/2018 was transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and was registered as T.A No.7699/2020 by the Registry of this Tribunal.

2. The present matter was filed before the Hon’ble High Court seeking following relief: -

(A) CERTIORARI seeking quashment of Order No.DFO/PFD/993-94 dated 07-03-2018 issued by respondent No.3 being patently illegal arbitrary and in violation of the Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution as well as in violation of the Judgments rendered by the Hon'ble Division Bench of J&K High Court.

(B) MANDAMUS commanding upon the respondents to regularize the service of the petitioner in the light of Govt. Order No.1285-GAD of 2001 dated 06-11-2001 and Judgment of the Hon'ble Division Bench of J&K High Court in 2012 (4) JKJ 1051.

(C) Any other writ order or direction which this Hon'ble Court deems appropriate and consider the petitioner entitled thereto be also passed.”

3. The facts of the case as pleaded by the petitioner in his pleadings are as follows: -

The petitioner most respectfully submits as under: -

a) The applicant a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir invokes the jurisdiction of this Tribunal asserting violation of his constitutional and legal rights arising from denial of  regularization despite long and continuous engagement with the Forest Department. The applicant submits that he was initially engaged as a daily wager/casual worker on 20.04.1996 for watch and ward duties in Closure CO-143/4 as well as Dharana and other forest areas of Mendhar Range District Poonch pursuant to departmental requirements and directions of higher authorities. Since the date of his engagement he claims to have been continuously discharging duties to the satisfaction of the department without any break a fact which according to him stands corroborated by contemporaneous departmental records.

b) It is the specific case of the applicant that a history sheet dated 18.10.1999 was prepared by the competent authority wherein his engagement and satisfactory performance were duly acknowledged. Further the department itself issued communications in September 2000 and September 2001 enumerating the names of daily wagers deployed for watch and ward duties at various resin depots and forest closures in which the applicant’s name consistently appeared. The applicant asserts that these official communications attendance records certificates issued by the department and payment entries clearly establish that his engagement was neither casual nor intermittent but continuous and against regular departmental needs.

c) Despite rendering more than two decades of service the applicant alleges that the respondents failed to regularize his services compelling him to submit repeated representations. When no decision was taken the applicant approached the High Court in SWP No. 3096/2017 wherein the High Court vide order dated 30.12.2017 directed the respondents to consider his case for regularization strictly in accordance with the applicable rules and to take a decision within a stipulated period. In compliance the matter was processed at the departmental level and the Conservator of Forests Jammu West Circle vide communication dated 29.01.2018 advised the District Forest Officer Poonch to take necessary action in consultation with the Law Officer.

d) However the applicant’s claim was ultimately rejected by the District Forest Officer Poonch vide order dated 07.03.2018 holding that the applicant did not fulfill the eligibility criteria under the Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work Charged Employees (Regularization) Rules 1994 particularly the requirement of completion of seven years of continuous service as on 31.03.1994. Aggrieved by the said rejection the applicant contends that the impugned order suffers from non- application of mind misreading of facts and complete disregard of binding judicial precedents and Government Order No. 1285-GAD of 2001 dated