Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 23: Division Bench of State High Court comprising Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar and Justice M K Hanjura has dismissed an appeal filed by the State against the judgment of the writ court which had ordered promotion of a migrant employee.
The facts of the case are that Kamal Krishan Razdan while in the Government service and working in Kashmir valley had because of wide spread disturbances migrated out of valley along with other family members and came to be registered as a migrant at Jammu by the competent authorities in Government.
He while being a migrant at Jammu came to be promoted as Statistical Officer in the year 1999 and adjusted in the Directorate of Horticulture, Planning and Marketing. However, due to security reasons he could not move to Srinagar as such was declared as migrant and attached in the office of the Inspector General of Prisons, Jammu.
Subsequently, he came to be adjusted as Incharge Assistant Director (P&S) on the recommendation of Departmental Promotion Committee/Public Service Commission. Thereafter, he was posted as Incharge Assistant director (P&S) in the office of Financial Commissioner Revenue. In the year 2006, the Government notified the seniority of Statistical Officers and Kamal Krishan Razdan figured much ahead of several private respondents.
In the year 2012 Kamal Krishan Razdan was denied regularization as Assistant Director on the ground of his artistic activities. Aggrieved over this, Kamal Krishan Razdan knocked the doors of the High Court and challenged the decision of Planning Department on various grounds.
The writ court vide judgment dated May 7, 2016 directed the official respondents to regularize the service of Kamal Krishan Razdan as Assistant Director from the date his juniors were regularized within three months. However, the respondents didn’t do so and slept over the matter for a long time.
Thereafter, the Principal Secretary, Planning and Development Department challenged the order of writ court before the Division Bench and even prayed for condonation of delay in filing the appeal.
After hearing both the sides, the DB observed, “the judgment of the writ court doesn’t call for any interference. It is based on law and the facts of the case. It is lucid and clear”.
“Rule 10 of J&K Employees Conduct Rules of 1971 clearly states that a Government employee may without sanction undertake honorary work of a social and charitable nature or occasional work of literary, artistic or scientific character except in the organizations and associations with which a Government employee is expressly debarred from associating”, the DB said.
“Looking at the LPA from yet another angle, the services of some juniors and some seniors to Kamal Krishan Razdan were regularized, which is grave injustice with him”, the DB said, adding “the State could under no circumstances take refuge under the plea that the respondent being a migrant cannot be regularized to the post”.
Stating that there was absolutely no illegality in the order of the writ court, the DB dismissed the appeal of the State with the directions to the appellants to comply with the judgment of writ court within a period of four weeks. “The respondent shall be placed in the order of seniority from the date his immediate junior has been regularized to the post of Assistant Director”, the DB directed.
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