##PAGE1##

HIGH COURT OF JAMMU &h475 KASHMIR AND LADAKH

AT JAMMU

WP(C) No.2990/2025

Reserved on: 23.12.2025

Pronounced on: 26.12.2025

Uploaded on : 26.12.2025

Inhabitants of Village Kalsian, Panchayat Kalsina, through its representative

Bahadur Nath, Age 69 years Ex-Sarpanch, Panchayat Kalsian

S/o Late Sh. Paras Ram R/o Village Kalsian

Tehsil Nowshera, District Rajouri ....Petitioner(s)

Through:-Mr. Waheed Choudhary, Advocate

V/s

1. UT of Jammu and Kashmir

Through Commissioner Secretary PWD (R&B),

Department of Civil Secretariat, Jammu.

2. Chief Engineer, PWD (R&B), Jammu.

3. Superintendent Engineer PWD(R&B), Circle Rajouri.

4. Executive Engineer PWF(R&B), Nowshera.

5. Parveen Sharma, S/o Tilak Raj

R/o Village Kurlian, Tehsil Kalakote District Rajouri

6. Sh. Surinder Choudhary

Hon’ble Deputy CM, (Minister for PWD 9R&B)

UT of Jammu & Kashmir.

...Respondent(s)

Through:- Mr. Ravinder Gupta, AAG for R-1 to 4

Mr. Mazhar Ali Khan, Advocate for R-5

None for R-6

Coram: HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE MOKSHA KHAJURIA KAZMI, JUDGE

JUDGMENT

1. By way of this writ petition, filed on behalf of inhabitants of village

Kalsian through Bahadur Nath, in representative capacity, the

petitioners have invoked extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Court

vested under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to quash allotment

order No.SER/R&B/46/4864-68, whereby work for construction of 45

2

meters span motorable bridge along with approach road connected to

Kalsian Satsang Ghat to Handan Tanda, has been allotted in favour of

respondent No.5, in terms of e-NIT No.12 of 2025-26 dated 03.07.2025.

A further direction is sought upon the respondents, more particularly

respondent No.5 to execute the work strictly as per the DPR prepared

and approved.

FACTUAL MATRIX

2. The case of the petitioners, as projected in the writ petition, is that in the

year 2023, people of Kalsian and Handan Tanda Panchayat approached

the concerned MLA for completion of pending work, which involves

construction of 20 meter span of motorable bridge along with approach

road connecting Kalsian Satsang Ghar to Handan Tanda. On the

recommendations of the then MLA, DPR for construction of remaining

20 meter motorable span bridge alongwith existing approach road, was

duly prepared and forwarded to respondent Nos. 2 and 3 under

NABARD scheme.

3. It is stated that while issuance of e-NIT was under consideration,

election in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir was announced, as such, NIT

could not be issued due to imposition of model code of conduct. The

grievance of the petitioner is that after the election was over and

government formed, respondent No.6, elected MLA from the

constituency, who happened to be the Deputy Chief Minister having

portfolio of PWD (R&B), in order to show his power in the political

3

corridor, managed shifting of the aforesaid work to some other place

under the same nomenclature, got the DPR approved on 08.07.2023,

and got the NIT issued for allotment of contract under new alignment,

which is about six hundred meter away from the already existing road.

The petitioner along with other members of the Panchayat stated to have

approached respondent No.6 with their grievance but of no avail,

aggrieved whereby the petitioners approached this Court by way of

present writ petition on the ground that though the e-NIT has been

issued with the same nomenclature but for totally different work, which

is contrary to the earlier DPR; once the DPR has been approved, same

cannot be shifted to other place without any justifiable reason; besides,

approach road between kalsian Satsangh Ghar to Handan Tanda, pillars

of the bridge connecting both the villages, have already been

constructed and only 20 meter motorable bridge was required to be

constructed, as such, the respondents are duty bound to complete the

execution of work in terms of the earlier DPR dated 08.07.2023;

shifting of the alignment remained unexplained by the official

respondents.

4. Per contra, official respondents have resisted the claim of the

petitioners by filing their objections. It is