Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 1: High court judge Dhiraj Singh Thakur today held that the employees of Farmers Service Cooperative Societies would not have any right to seek a direction to the state to absorb them in the state service contrary to rules or the spirit of the constitution.
The court directive came in a bunch of petitions filed by the employees of six All Farmers Service Cooperative Societies (FSS) which were wound up vide July 27, 1990 order passed by the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Jammu, in terms of the provisions of section 65 read with section 66 of the J&K Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 and thereafter came under liquidation. The basis of the winding up order were the alleged embezzlement, mismanagement and misdeeds in the running of the cooperative societies.
In the first round of litigation, the FSS employees filed various petitions challenging the order of the Registrar Cooperative Societies for winding up of the societies. By virtue of judgment and order of March 31, 1995, passed by this court in OWP No 691/90 and connected petitions, certain directions were given to the Registrar Co-operative Societies, Jammu, to convene a meeting of the officials of the cooperative department as also such co-operative institutions in Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur districts, which were either wholly owned by the government or in which the government had a substantial control, to explore the means to rehabilitate the petitioners who were otherwise rendered unemployed because of the liquidation of societies.
This direction was issued to alleviate the miseries faced by the petitioners. A comprehensive report was directed to be prepared and liberty was granted to the parties to agitate the matter before the court in case, the same was not acceptable to them and in the second round of litigation, two writ petitions bearing SWPs No 1648/98 and 1371/98, came to be filed by some of the FSS employees challenging the report of Registrar Cooperative Societies, Jammu, with a further prayer inter-alia for a writ of mandamus commanding the respondent state to accord them same treatment as had been given to the employees of Rural Electric Co-operative Society, Samba, in terms of December 16, 1997 order.
After hearing the petitioners' counsel, Justice Thakur observed that testing the facts of the case on the touchstone of the law as discussed herein above, would be seen that what the petitioners are, in fact, seeking from this court is mandamus which would run to defeat the Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution as regards those innumerable citizens who despite being qualified and eligible, would be prevented from consideration if the petitioners were directed to be appointed on the analogy of employees of RECS, Samba. Such a direction would, in fact, also permit the backdoor appointments of the petitioners in gross violation of the service rules governing such appointments and in the present case, the right of absorption, contrary to rules, is not a fundamental right much less a legal or a statutory right. What has been highlighted in the present case is only the fact that the petitioners were similarly situated as the employees of RECS, Samba, who had been absorbed in the government service. Equality, it has been held, is a positive concept which cannot be invoked in a manner which would have the effect of defeating Articles 14 and 16 of the constitution as regards those who despite being eligible, but not being parties to these selections would be affected.
With these observations, the court helds that the petitioners would not have any right to seek a directions to the state to absorb them in state Service contrary to rules or the spirit of the constitution and dismissed the petitions. |
