J&K HC Upholds Rejection Of Daily Workers' Regularisation Pleas

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has upheld a single bench judgement dismissing two petitions filed by a group of daily-rated workers seeking regularisation under SRO 520 of 2017.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice (Acting) Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani dismissed two intra-court appeals filed by the workers, who had sought inclusion in the list of Permanent Daily Labourers/Temporary Daily Labourers (PDLs/TDLs) prepared by the authorities. Their non-inclusion in the list, they contended, deprived them of the opportunity to seek regularisation under SRO 520 of 2017.

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While upholding the October 31, 2025, judgement of the single bench, the court held that the appellants had failed to establish that they were engaged before the March 17, 2015, cut-off date.

The appellants had claimed that they were engaged between 2012 and 2015 and that their names had appeared in earlier departmental lists but were subsequently excluded from the final list of 472 PDLs/TDLs considered for regularisation. They had also challenged the inclusion of 37 other persons in the list.

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However, the Division Bench noted that an Inquiry Committee, after examining departmental records, found that the appellants were not borne on the relevant muster rolls or regular wage lists and that their CVs had been prepared after the ban on fresh engagement of daily wagers came into effect on March 17, 2015.

The Bench held that mere inclusion in an earlier or preliminary departmental list could not, by itself, establish engagement prior to the cut-off date or create an enforceable right to regularisation.

“We, therefore, find no merit in the contention of the appellants that their earlier inclusion created any right in their favour. A preliminary or provisional inclusion in a departmental list, by itself, cannot confer any right to regularisation when the requirement of engagement prior to the cut-off date remains unestablished,” the court said.

The court further observed that the appellants' contention regarding the inclusion of 37 other persons did not advance their case.

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“In order to claim parity, the appellants must first establish that they are similarly situated to the persons who were ultimately included in the final list,” the court said, adding that the respondents had explained that, upon verification, those included in the final list were found to have been engaged prior to the imposition of the ban on fresh engagement of daily wagers with effect from March 17, 2015.

Finding no error in the writ court's judgement, the Division Bench dismissed the appeals and upheld the earlier decision.

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