Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 18: A Division Bench (DB) of J&K High Court comprising Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Rajnesh Oswal while dismissing the appeal filed by UT Govt and upheld the judgment of the Single Judge, observed that Single Judge has rightly concluded that so long the appointment of the respondents is intact and has not been held to be illegal or irregular by any competent authority, they cannot be denied the salary for the period they perform their duties. It is rightly held by the learned Single Judge that taking the work from the respondents without paying their due salary is tantamount to "Begar" which is constitutionally prohibited. Thus the view taken by the Single Judge is unexceptional and, therefore, cannot be interfered with.
The appellants in this Letters Patent Appeal are aggrieved and assail the judgment dated 19th March 2020, passed by the learned Single Judge in WP (C) No. 742/2020, clubbed with SWP No. 2648/2018, CCP (S) No. 402/2019, titled as Ashiq Hussain Dar and others vs. Union Territory of J&K & Ors. Before proceeding to appreciate the grounds of challenge, urged by Mr. Shah Amir, AAG in support of appeal, it is necessary to briefly notice the few facts.
The respondents are working as Class-IV employees in the appellant-department on substantive basis for the last about 15 years and have been contributing towards the General Provident Fund (GPF) as per the numbers and the computer codes, allotted to them by the appellants. It appears that the Chief Accounts Officer, District Fund Office, Bandipora vide his communication dated 22nd January 2018, raised some controversy regarding correct allotment of GP fund numbers and computer codes of Class-IV employees including the respondents, working in the office of Block Medical Officer, Hajan.
In the backdrop of aforesaid facts, the appellants seek to challenge the impugned judgment, primarily on the ground that the appointments of the respondents as Class-IV have been found to be without following due process of law and, therefore, they are not entitled to continue in services nor can they be paid any salary or allowed to make subscription to the GP fund. It is submitted that with regard to their appointments, the matter has already been taken up with the Crime Branch, Kashmir which is investigating the matter. It is submitted that prima-facie, the appellants have found the appointment of the respondents contrary to law and, therefore, no premium can put on such irregular and illegal appointments.
—JNF |
