Posthumous regularisation of daily wagers after 7 years service enforceable by heirs; compassionate appointment extends to dependents dying in harness despite formal delay.

ORDER

Per: - Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member

1. The SWP No.3709/2019 was transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and was registered as T.A No.553/2020 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 husband of the petitioner No.1 (late Sh. Ganesh Singh) in regular pay scale of Class IV strictly in accordance with SRO 64 of 1994 i.e. J&K Daily Rated Workers/Work Charge Employees Regularization Rules, 1994 w.e.f. the date of completion of seven years continuous. service alongwith all consequential benefits including release of arrears of the salary in favour ofthe petitioners;

b) Writ, order or direction in the nature of Writ of Mandamus commanding the respondents to sanction Family Pension in favour of the petitioner No.1 w.e.f. 23.11.2017 i.e. from date of death of the husband of the petitioner No.1 (late Sh. Ganesh Singh) after regularizing the services of late husband of the petitioner No. 1 in regular pay scale of Class IV strictly in accordance with SRO 64 of 1994 i.e. J&K Daily Rated Workers/Work Charge Employees Regularization Rules, 1994 w.c.f. the date of completion of seven years continuous service;

c) Writ, order or direction in the nature of Writ of Mandamus commanding the respondents to appoint the petitioner No.1 on compassionate grounds under the provisions of SRO 43 of 1994 against the Class-IV post keeping in view the qualification possessed by the petitioner;

d) Mandamus commanding the respondents to appoint the petitioner No.2 on compassionate grounds under the provisions of SRO 43 of 1994 against the Class-IV post in relaxation of age or after attaining the age of majority keeping in view the qualification possessed by the petitioner No.2;

e) 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 issued in favour of the petitioner and against the respondents along with cost.

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

a) The present Transfer Application has arisen out of SWP No. 3709/2019, which stood transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and registered before this Tribunal as TA No. 553/2020. The applicants are the widow and minor son of late Shri Ganesh Singh, who was engaged as a daily rated worker in the Power Development Department (PDD), Kathua Division.

b) It is the specific case of the applicants that late Shri Ganesh Singh was engaged as a daily wager with effect from 01.05.1996 and continued to work uninterruptedly with the respondent-department for more than two decades till his untimely death on 23.11.2017. It is pleaded that during this long tenure, he discharged duties akin to those of regular Class- IV/Lineman staff and remained on continuous roll of the department. On 23.11.2017, while performing official duties on the LT Network at Govindsar, Kathua, he fell from an electric pole and died in harness. The incident was officially reported by the concerned Assistant Executive Engineer and further communicated to higher authorities, including the Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, for grant of ex-gratia relief.

c) The applicants assert that despite rendering more than twenty- one years of continuous service, late Shri Ganesh Singh was never