An employee engaged as a temporary daily labourer, having completed seven years of continuous service, is entitled to regularization under extant rules, and subsequent policies cannot be applied retrospectively to defeat accrued rights.

ORDER

Per: - Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member

1. The SWP No.4099/2019 was transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and was registered as T.A No.6339/2020 by the Registry of this Tribunal.

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

a) MANDAMUS commanding & directing the Respondents to regularize the petitioner as casual labour worker ie temporary daily labour (TDL), with effect from the date the petitioner has completed his continuous seven years of service i.e April 2003 from the date of his engagement ie May/1996, in terms of Govt. Order No. 1285-GAD of 2001 and also in terms of law laid down by Hon'ble Division Bench of This Court in LPASW No. 33/2010 decided on 20/12/2012.

b) MANDAMUS commanding & directing the Respondents to release all consequential benefits to which the petitioner is entitled from the date the petitioner completed his seven years of continuous service as casual worker i.e, with effect from April 2003.

c) PROHIBITION commanding and directing the official respondent snot to regularize the petitioner under SRO 520 of 2017 but regularization under Govt. Order No. 1285 of 2001 dated 6/11/2001.

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

a) The present Transfer Application arises out of SWP No. 4099/2019, originally filed before the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and subsequently transferred to this Tribunal, where it has been registered as T.A. No. 6339/2020.

b) The applicant claims that he was engaged as a Temporary Daily Labourer (TDL) in the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department in May 1996 and has continued to discharge duties uninterruptedly since the date of his engagement. In support of his claim, the applicant has relied upon wage receipts, departmental orders assigning him duties in different wings of the department, and various official communications acknowledging his engagement and continuity of service. The applicant asserts that his first payment receipt pertains to May 1996 and that thereafter he has continuously worked as a daily- rated employee without any break.

c) It is pleaded that during the course of his engagement, the applicant was entrusted with different assignments across various offices of the PHE Department. The department itself, according to the applicant, prepared official records acknowledging his status and length of service. In particular, reliance has been placed on a departmental communication dated 15.10.2011 whereby a list of casual/seasonal/community participation workers was prepared, in which the applicant’s name appeared with his date of engagement shown as May 1996. Further, in June 2014, the applicant, along with similarly situated workers, was attached with an Accounts Clerk for preparation of history sheets for the purpose of regularization, thereby acknowledging the department’s intent to process his case.

d) It is further averred that the Executive Engineer concerned forwarded the applicant’s bio-data and history sheet covering the period from May 1996 onwards, clearly recording that the applicant had been continuously working as a casual labourer/need-based worker and had been paid wages up to the relevant period. The applicant was thereafter posted to different sub-divisions, including the Narwal Sub-Division, where he continues to perform his duties.

e) The grievance of the applicant is that despite completion of seven years of continuous service by April 2003, making him eligible for regularization under the Jammu and Kashmir Daily Rated Workers/Work Charged Employees (Regularizatio