HC refuses to grant benefit of SRO-520 to daily wagers

SRINAGAR, Aug 29: High Court has refused to grant the benefit of SRO 520 to scores of daily wagers as they failed to establish that they were engaged prior to the ban imposed by the Government on hiring daily wagers.

179 daily wagers working in the Power Development Department (PDD) approached the Court that their names have been excluded from the list of 472 PDLs/TDLs prepared for consideration of regularization under SRO 520 of 2017 by the department.

They claimed that they have been engaged as daily rated workers between 2012 and 2015, i.e. prior to the imposition of ban on fresh engagement of daily wagers with effect from 17.03.2015.

According to them, their names have figured in some earlier lists prepared by the department, but have been subsequently excluded from the list of 472 PDLs/TDLs prepared for consideration of regularization under SRO 520 of 2017.

The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Mohammad Yousuf Wani dismissed their plea by recording that they have failed to prove before the court that they were engaged prior to ban as such a preliminary or provisional inclusion in a departmental list, by itself, cannot confer any right to regularization when the requirement of engagement prior to the cut-off date remains un-established.

“The respondents have explained that, upon verification, the persons included in the final list are found to have been engaged prior to the imposition of ban on fresh engagement of daily wagers with effect from 17.03.2015. We also find no merit in the contention that the respondents could not have prepared the subsequent list or tentative seniority list during the pendency of the appellants’ claim. The entitlement of the appellants depended clearly upon their establishing that they have been engaged prior to 17.03.2015”, read the judgment.

The court said that unless they establish that they have been engaged prior to ban, they cannot claim any right to be included in the list or to consider their cases for regularization. The entire claim of the appellants rests upon the assertion that they have been engaged prior to 17.03.2015. However, that assertion has not been established by any reliable material.

On the contrary, Additional Advocate General Shahbaz Sikander submitted that the Inquiry Committee, after examining the relevant departmental records has recorded a finding against the appellants-daily wagers. The said finding has neither been shown to be perverse or arbitrary nor demonstrated to be contrary to the record.

“In these circumstances, no mandamus could have been issued in favour of the appellants. We find that the writ Court has considered the matter in its proper perspective and has committed no error of law or fact warranting interference by us in these intra-Court appeals. For the foregoing reasons, we find no merit in these appeals. The appeals are, accordingly, dismissed”, DB concluded.

The court further added that it is conscious of the fact that muster rolls and other departmental records ordinarily remain in the custody of the department and may not be readily available to the employees. “This, however, does not dispense with the requirement of establishing the fact that the appellants have been engaged prior to the cut-off date,” the court said.

“Once the respondents specifically disputed the appellants’ claim of engagement before 17.03.2015, it is incumbent upon the appellants to place before the Court some reliable material in support of their claim. No such material has been placed on record”, read the judgment.

The Government vide its Order No. 43-F of 2015 dated 17.03.2015 imposed a ban on the fresh engagement of daily-wage workers, with effect from the date of issuance of the said Government Order. Consequently, a person claiming the benefit of the regularization policy is required, in the first instance, to establish that his engagement has been made prior to the said cut-off date.