Srinagar- Once the initial engagement of a candidate is not by the competent authority, his services cannot be regularized, the High Court of J&K and Ladakh ruled on Thursday.
The Court was hearing a petition filed by one T. Arif, stating that he came to be engaged on consolidated work on the recommendation of then Minister for PHE, Irrigation, Flood Control and Tourism of the erstwhile State of J&K on 12 April 2008. He was disengaged a few months later. However, the order of disengagement was rescinded in 2010 and fresh order of his disengagement from services was issued on 1-06-2022. In his plea, Arif had sought regularization of his services even as he stated that he had received his wages.
In its response to Arif’s plea, the government said that public employment is a national wealth and all eligible candidates have a right of consideration for being selected/appointed. An equal opportunity for competing for employment is guaranteed by the constitutional scheme as mandated in terms of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. The government further stated that the order of disengagement was issued pursuant to the communication dated 25.05.2022 after examining the records pertaining to the case.
Precisely, the government said that Arif managed his engagement and continuance in connivance with then Executive Officer who also facilitated drawal of Arif’s salary and because of the same, the Government decided to retire the then Executive Officer MC Baramulla prematurely. It is also averred that Arif’s engagement was initially on consolidated wages and he continued to work on an extension basis. @The petitioner (Arif) was, in fact, a backdoor appointee and he was engaged just on the recommendation of then Minister, which has resulted into denial of opportunity of participation in selection process for engagement to the other eligible candidates,@ the government said, adding, “Once the officer who engaged the petitioner (Arif) was not having competence to engage (him), the petitioner (Arif) cannot claim any right to continue at the post.
After hearing both the sides, a bench of Justice Rajnesh Oswal upheld the government decision to disengage Arif.
“There is substance in the submissions made by learned counsel for the respondents (government) that the engagement of the petitioner (Arif) even on consolidated basis has resulted into denial of opportunity of participation in the selection process to other eligible candidates,” the court said, adding, “There is not even an iota of doubt that the petitioner (Arif) has been engaged just on the recommendations of then Minister without any selection process.”
Otherwise also, the court said, it is settled law that once the initial engagement of a candidate is not by the competent authority, his services cannot be regularized .
“Once this Court has come to the conclusion that the initial engagement of the petitioner was not in accordance with law, he cannot be allowed to continue to work with the respondents,” the court said, adding, “There is no illegality in the impugned order passed by the respondents (government)”.
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