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| HC quashes Govt. orders regularizing appointees | | Controversy over class IV appointments in Education Department | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Jan 9
In a much publicized appointments of class-IV in the districts of Jammu, Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur, which were made by the CEOs and cancelled by the Director Education and kept in abeyance by the Secretary Education Department vide order July 5, 1999, Justice Hakim Imtityaz Hussain of Jammu and Kashmir High Court while deciding 48 writ petitions filed by the aggrieved candidates, directed the official respondents to consider the cases of the petitioners on the parity of the petitioners in Basharat Hussain’s case, in case the Government decided so, the present petitions shall be deemed to have been disposed off accordingly. The Government shall take a decision in the matter within three months from the date the copy of this judgment is served on the state. In case the Government does not take any decision in the matter within the said period or if it decides not to accord the said treatment to the petitioners, the petitions shall stand allowed, the orders impugned dated April 11, 2002 and order April 4, 2003 shall stand quashed.
Justice Hussain, after hearing battery of lawyers from the both the sides, observed that during the pendency of petition, the Court vide order dated March 30, 2007 and May 3, 2007 directed the Secretary School Education to file factual report indicating the vacancy position at the time when the two notifications were issued. He was further directed to give factual aspect of the case including the merit position of the petitioners and the private respondents appointed on the posts. The Secretary in a detailed factual report stated that Director School Education Jammu vide advertisement notice dated September 26, 2000 advertised 284 class IV posts in the districts Jammu/Kathua/Rajouri/ Udhampur and Poonch. According to the Secretary, the vacancy positions worked out with reference to the date of advertisement notices issued during the year 1998. There is nothing on record to suggest that any effort to calculate the vacancy position on September 26, 2000 was made. The Secretary has further stated that the candidate ousted went on hunger strike and the issue gained the dimensions involving law and order problem. The matter came up for discussion in the state legislature time and again and the public representatives urged the government to take compassionate view as most of the candidates, ousted belonging to remote areas, had crossed or were on the verge of crossing the upper age limit. It is also reflected in the records that the then Chief Minister in response extended an assurance of taking the appointees back in service. Subsequently to these developments, the Government on April 11, 2002 issued an order interlaia saying that the ousted class-IV employees shall be considered for appointment against the vacancies in the districts to which they belong on a consolidate salary Rs 1200/ per month till such time the fresh merit list is drawn after completing the selection process.
Justice Hussain further observed that from the reply submitted by the respondents and the compliance report submitted by the Secretary School Education it appears this was done in view of the political pressures mounted by the candidates. They resorted to agitation which forced the Chief Minister to give an assurance on the floor of the house that appointees will be taken back in service. Court is of the view this was not a just cause to stop the process of selection and deny the candidates right of consideration. Not only the Government has in gross violation of rules made the appointment of these employees, it has by doing so ignored the finding of the Director School Education Jammu as its own findings on these appointments. The Director had on examination of the whole matter came to a definite conclusion that all these appointments were fraudulent and had been made for dubious considerations thereby violating the object and purpose of the selection and recruitment. The Government order April 24, 2000 also found that the appointments were made by the officers who were not competent to make such appointments. It was on the basis of these findings the Government accepted the orders of the Director School Education to cancel all these illegal and irregular appointments. When the Government found that appointments made were illegal being without jurisdiction, it should not have appointed these candidates particularly when it had stated before the court that appointments made were illegal. With these observations, Court allowed the petitions and quashed the Government orders passed on April 11, 2002, and April 4, 2003. JNF |
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