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2026 Supreme(Online)(CAT) 1327
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member, Ram Mohan Johri, Administrative Member
Mushtaq Ahmed – Appellant
Versus
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir – Respondent
Transfer Application No. 2693/2020|SWP No.4513/2019
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr. Abhishek Kotwal
For the Respondents: Mr. Rajesh Thappa, AAG, Mr. Sudesh Magotra, Ld. AAG
Project-based labourers not entitled to regularization under SRO 64; engagement ends with project closure.
Headnote:The applicants sought regularization under Jammu & Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work Charged Employees (Regularization) Rules, 1994 (SRO 64 of 1994) after alleged seven years of continuous service as helpers/watchers in Social Forestry Department. Court found they were project-based labourers under Trikuta Hills Project, closed in 2005, not daily rated workers. SRO 64 inapplicable to project engagements; no official records proved continuous service. Key issue: Whether project labourers qualify for regularization under SRO 64. Ratio: Project employment terminates with project closure; no vested right to regularization without departmental records. Local certificates lack evidentiary value; delay of 14 years bars relief. Repeal of SRO 64 via S.O. 514 dated 06.10.2023 abates claims. Transfer Application dismissed; no merit, interim orders vacated.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. transfer from high court; seeks regularization under sro 64. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. respondents deny daily wager status; project-based engagement ended 2005. (Para 4 , 8) |
| 3. applicants claim continuous service; respondents contest applicability. (Para 6 , 7 , 9) |
| 4. project labour not covered by sro 64; no evidentiary records. (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 13) |
| 5. delay, repeal bar relief; application dismissed. (Para 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18) |
ORDER
Per: - Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member
1. The SWP No.4513/2019 was transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and was registered as T.A No.2693/2020 by the Registry of this Tribunal.
2. The present matter was filed before the Hon’ble High Court seeking following relief: -
a) Writ, order or direction in the nature of Writ of Mandamus commanding the respondents to regularize the services of the petitioners in accordance with the provisions of SRO 64 of 1994 retrospectively from the date they have completed seven years of service in the respondent-department:
b) Writ, order or direction in the nature of Writ of Mandamus commanding the respondents to release all the benefits and regularize the salary of the petitioners at par with others similarly situated persons till their regularization and thereafter the petitioners be paid full salary regularly in future:
c) Writ, order or direction in the nature of Writ of Prohibition thereby directing the respondents not to disengage the petitioners and allow them to continue at their respective places of postings till the pendency of this petition:
d) Any other writ, order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, may also be granted in favour of the petitioners and against the respondent along with cost of the petition.
3. The facts of the case as pleaded by the petitioners in their pleadings are as follows: -
a) The present Transfer Application has its genesis in SWP No. 4513/2019, which was originally instituted before the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and, upon reorganization of the State and creation of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, stood transferred to this Tribunal and was registered as TA No. 2693/2020.
b) The applicants, forty-eight in number, claim to be citizens of India and permanent residents of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. They approached the writ court jointly on the assertion that they are similarly situated, having identical causes of action and common questions of law, and therefore sought adjudication through a single proceeding.
c) The case set up by the applicants is that they were engaged by the Social Forestry Department as Helpers/Watchers/Daily Wagers during the years 1997–1998 and were deployed in their respective villages, primarily to protect forest plantations, trees, forest produce, fencing of closures and allied activities. According to the applicants, they continued to discharge their duties uninterruptedly for several years and completed more than seven years of continuous service without any break.
d) It is further pleaded that under the Jammu & Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work Charged Employees (Regularization) Rules, 1994, notified vide SRO 64 of 1994, the applicants became eligible for regularization upon completion of seven years of continuous service. Despite fulfillment of the said eligibility condition, their services were not regularized, even though, according to them, several similarly situated workers in other departments had been granted such benefit.
e) The applicants have asserted that the supervision of their work was undertaken at the local level by Numberdars, Panchs, Sarpanches and Guards/Watchers, and that certificates were issued by such local functionaries certifying their continuous engagement. Copies of such certificates were relied upon by the applicants to substantiate their claim of uninterrupted service.
f) It is also pleaded that the applicants submitted representations to
