Central Administrative Tribunal - Jammu
Swami Raj Bhagat vs D/O Higher Education Ut Of J&K on 3 February, 2026
:: 1 :: TA 309/2020
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
JAMMU BENCH, JAMMU (RESERVED)
Hearing through video conferencing
Transfer Application No. 309/2020
Reserved on: - 04.12.2025
Pronounced on: - 03.02.2026
HON'BLE MR. RAJINDER SINGH DOGRA, MEMBER (J)
HON'BLE MR. RAM MOHAN JOHRI, MEMBER (A)
Swami Raj Bhagat, Aged 63 years Son of Sh. Jamit Ram, R/o Kuleed
Tehsi! Kishtwar District Kishtwar.
...Applicant
(Advocate: - Mr. NITIN PARIHAR)
Versus
1. Union Territory of J&:K, Through Commissioner/Secretary, Higher
Education Department, Civil Secretariat, Jammи.
2. 2. Director Colleges, Higher Education Department, Civil Secretariat,
Jammu.
3. 3. Principal, Government Degree College, Kishtwar.
...Respondents
(Advocate:- Mr. Rajesh Thapa, ld. AAG)
Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV
HARSHIT
DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode=
180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f,
SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8,
[email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV
YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document
Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30'
Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0
:: 2 :: TA 309/2020
ORDER
Per: - Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member
1. The SWP No.620/2020 was transferred from the Hon'ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and was registered as T.A No.309/2020 by the Registry of this Tribunal.
2. The present matter was filed before the Hon'ble High Court seeking following relief: -
In view of the submissions made herein above and those to be urged at the time of hearing, it is most respectfully prayed that the Hon'ble Court may very graciously be pleased to allow the present writ petition by granting the following reliefs in favour of the petitioner in the interest of justice: -
a) An appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to regularize the services of the petitioner as Orderly retrospectively w.e.f.
01.10.2005 on the same analogy on which services of exactly similarly situated local fund employees details of which are given in the body of the petition, were regularized retrospectively and grant him all retrospective consequential Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 3 :: TA 309/2020 benefits including seniority, differential of salary promotion and all other allied benefits to which the petitioner is otherwise legally entitled to.
b) Any other relief, which this Hon'ble Court in the facts and circumstances of the case deems fit and proper.
3. The facts of the case as pleaded by the petitioners in their pleadings are as follows: -
a) The present Transfer Application arises out of SWP No. 620/2020, which stood transferred from the Hon'ble High Court of Jammu and Kashmir to this Tribunal and was registered as T.A. No. 309/2020. The applicant, a resident of District Kishtwar, was initially engaged as an Orderly/Helper on 23.08.1995 under the Local Fund Employees Scheme in Government Degree College, Kishtwar. From the date of his engagement, the applicant continued to discharge his duties uninterruptedly and claims to have rendered satisfactory service for several years without any break or adverse remark.
b) It is the specific grievance of the applicant that although he was appointed earlier in point of time and stood senior to certain Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 4 :: TA 309/2020 similarly situated Local Fund Employees, his services were not regularized retrospectively, whereas the services of several other Local Fund Employees, including his junior, were regularized with retrospective effect from 01.10.2005. The applicant asserts that he possessed the requisite educational qualification at the time of his engagement and also belonged to the Scheduled Caste category, which, according to him, entitled him to equal and non-discriminatory treatment in the matter of regularization.
c) The record reflects that seniority of Local Fund Employees of the Jammu Division was prepared by the respondents, wherein the applicant was shown at Serial No. 81, while one Ghulam Nabi Kumhar, appointed on 01.09.1995 in the same institution, was placed at Serial No. 82. The applicant contends that despite his seniority, the case of the said junior employee was considered and his services were regularized retrospectively w.e.f. 01.10.2005, while the applicant was excluded without any discernible justification.
d) The applicant further relies upon the issuance of SRO 303 of 1991 and subsequent governmental decisions taken for Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 5 :: TA 309/2020 regularization of ad-hoc and Local Fund Employees. It is stated that earlier, both the applicant and his junior had approached the Hon'ble High Court by filing SWP No. 493/1999, which was disposed of with a direction to the respondents to consider their cases for regularization. Even contempt proceedings were initiated when no decision was taken, whereafter the respondents indicated that the process of regularization was under consideration.
e) Pursuant to Cabinet decisions and Government Order No. GAD-37/CM/2007 dated 21.11.2007, followed by Government Order No. 01-HE of 2008 dated 01.01.2008, services of several Local Fund Employees were regularized retrospectively from 01.10.2005, including the applicant's junior. Additionally, another similarly situated Local Fund Employee was regularized retrospectively vide Government Order No. 240-HE of 2006 dated 28.12.2006. Despite these developments, the applicant's case was not considered at that stage.
f) It was only later, vide Government Order No. 49-HE of 2012 dated 17.02.2012, that the services of the applicant were regularized as Orderly; however, such regularization was Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 6 :: TA 309/2020 granted only prospectively. The applicant's name figured at Serial No. 1 in the annexure to the said order, clearly reflecting his date of engagement as 23.08.1995. Dissatisfied with the denial of retrospective effect, the applicant continued to submit representations and also pursued litigation. Ultimately, even though the applicant retired upon attaining the age of superannuation, his claim for retrospective regularization from the date his juniors were regularized remained unresolved, prompting the filing of the present proceedings on the ground of hostile discrimination and violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
4. The respondents have filed their reply statement wherein they have averred as follows: -
a) The respondents have resisted the Transfer Application by filing a reply, raising preliminary objections as well as submissions on merits. At the threshold, it has been contended that the application does not disclose infringement of any fundamental, statutory or legal right and that no cause of action survives in favour of the applicant. It is also alleged that the Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 7 :: TA 309/2020 applicant has approached the Tribunal after considerable delay and has not come with clean hands, having misrepresented and selectively relied upon facts.
b) On merits, the respondents do not dispute the engagement of the applicant as a Local Fund Employee or the subsequent regularization of his services vide Government Order No. 49-
HE of 2012 dated 17.02.2012. However, it is emphatically asserted that such regularization was a conscious administrative decision taken in accordance with policy considerations and was intended to operate prospectively. According to the respondents, grant of retrospective regularization to the applicant at this belated stage would disturb the settled seniority and service position of several employees who are not parties before the Tribunal, thereby causing serious administrative complications.
c) The respondents have further contended that the applicant was engaged under a specific scheme and his regularization cannot automatically relate back to the date from which certain other employees were regularized, as each case was considered on its own facts and policy parameters prevailing at the relevant time. Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 8 :: TA 309/2020 Reliance has been placed upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Registrar General of India & Others v. Thippa Shetty, wherein it has been held that retrospective regularization should not be granted if it results in unsettling settled seniority or adversely affects third parties.
d) An additional objection raised by the respondents pertains to delay and laches. It is pleaded that the applicant was regularized in the year 2012, yet approached the Tribunal in the year 2020 seeking retrospective benefits. Such prolonged inaction, according to the respondents, disentitles the applicant to any discretionary relief, particularly when he accepted the order of regularization without protest and continued in service till superannuation.
e) On these grounds, the respondents have prayed for dismissal of the Transfer Application, contending that the applicant has already been granted the benefit of regularization in accordance with law and policy, and that no further direction for retrospective effect is warranted.
5. Having heard the parties and perused the record in extenso, the controversy in the present Transfer Application lies in a narrow Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 9 :: TA 309/2020 compass, namely, whether the applicant, who was admittedly senior and similarly situated to his junior Ghulam Nabi Kumhar, could have been denied retrospective regularisation from the date his junior was so regularised, particularly when the respondents themselves have acted upon the same policy and scheme in favour of juniors.
6. The factual position is not in dispute. The applicant was engaged as Orderly/Helper on 23.08.1995 under the Local Fund Employees Scheme and continuously discharged duties without interruption. His seniority position stood above that of Ghulam Nabi Kumhar, who was appointed subsequently on 01.09.1995 and shown junior in the inter se seniority list prepared by the respondents themselves. It is also an admitted position that the services of the said junior were regularised retrospectively w.e.f. 01.10.2005 vide Government Order No. 01-HE of 2008 dated 01.01.2008, whereas the applicant was excluded from such benefit without any cogent or discernible reason.
7. The respondents have not disputed the applicant's seniority, eligibility, continuity of service or his inclusion in the later order of regularisation dated 17.02.2012. The only justification put forth is that retrospective regularisation would disturb settled seniority and that the applicant approached the Tribunal belatedly. This plea, in the facts of Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 10 :: TA 309/2020 the present case, is wholly unsustainable. Once the respondents themselves have granted retrospective regularisation to juniors under the same scheme and policy, denial of the same benefit to a senior employee amounts to hostile discrimination and violates the mandate of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
8. The plea of delay and laches also does not advance the case of the respondents. The record shows that the applicant persistently agitated his claim through representations, legal notice and litigation, and the cause of action continued so long as the discriminatory treatment persisted. Mere passage of time cannot sanctify an otherwise arbitrary action, particularly where the illegality complained of goes to the root of equality in public employment. The applicant's retirement during the pendency of the proceedings also does not extinguish his accrued right to claim parity, especially when retrospective regularisation directly impacts his pensionary and retiral benefits.
9. Equally untenable is the reliance placed by the respondents on the principle of disturbing settled seniority. The applicant is not seeking wholesale re-fixation of seniority or displacement of third parties beyond what has already been done by the respondents themselves while regularising juniors retrospectively. The applicant only seeks to Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 11 :: TA 309/2020 be placed at par with his junior, which would, in fact, restore fairness rather than disturb it. Once the respondents have opened the door by granting retrospective benefit to juniors, they cannot selectively close it against a senior employee without any rational basis.
10. This Tribunal is, therefore, of the considered view that the action of the respondents in regularising the applicant only prospectively, while granting retrospective regularisation to his junior Ghulam Nabi Kumhar, is arbitrary, discriminatory and legally unsustainable. The applicant is entitled to be treated in the same manner as his junior, both in terms of date of regularisation and consequential service benefits.
11. Accordingly, the Transfer Application is allowed. The respondents are directed to regularise the services of the applicant retrospectively from the same date i.e. 01.10.2005, being the date from which the services of his junior Ghulam Nabi Kumhar were regularised. The applicant shall be entitled to all consequential benefits flowing therefrom, including fixation of pay and refixation of pensionary benefits. However, keeping in view that the applicant has already retired, the monetary benefits arising out of such retrospective regularisation shall be confined to notional fixation for the purpose of pension and Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV HARSHIT DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0 :: 12 :: TA 309/2020 retiral benefits, with actual arrears limited to the legally permissible period as per rules.
12. The aforesaid exercise shall be completed by the respondents within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
13. No order as to costs.
(RAM MOHAN JOHRI) (RAJINDER SINGH DOGRA)
Administrative Member Judicial Member
/harshit/
Digitally signed by HARSHIT YADAV
HARSHIT
DN: C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=Court master, PostalCode= 180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone= f43b1c5544466ac12d1b109be2e84ad03e43d7455ad4f908313774f070d1c28f, SERIALNUMBER=317ab7a2f4cee67ef40cfd31d9f71e774ed64e83e889590de390c87f3d3efda8, [email protected], CN=HARSHIT YADAV YADAV Reason: I am the author of this document Location:
Date: 2026.02.04 17:59:16+05'30' Foxit PDF Reader Version: 2025.2.0