JAMMU — The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has ruled that government jobs cannot be promised or granted in exchange for land donated for public projects, while upholding the separate entitlement of eligible long-serving casual workers to regular engagement under the applicable rules.
A Division Bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and M.A. Chowdhary passed the ruling while deciding a challenge filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Government and three others against an order issued by the Jammu Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on February 3.
The dispute arose after landowners donated approximately one kanal each in 2014 for the construction of tubewells. Their gift deeds reportedly stipulated government employment in return for the land, but they were subsequently engaged as casual workers in the Irrigation and Flood Control Department instead of receiving permanent appointments.
The workers approached the court in 2019 seeking regularisation of their services. The tribunal later directed their regularisation against available posts, prompting the government to challenge the order before the High Court.
The High Court held that permanent government appointments must be made in accordance with recruitment rules and through a fair and transparent selection process consistent with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality before the law and equality of opportunity in public employment.
The Bench observed that the government had no authority to promise permanent employment in exchange for donated land, cautioning that such arrangements would effectively amount to putting government jobs up for sale.
It also disapproved of the practice of engaging daily-rated, casual or ad hoc workers without following a fair selection process and subsequently regularising their services through policy decisions.
However, the court distinguished between a claim to permanent employment in exchange for land and the entitlement to regular engagement under the Jammu and Kashmir Casual and Other Workers (Regular Engagement) Rules, 2017, notified through SRO 520 of 2017.
The Bench noted that the workers had completed more than 10 years of continuous service as casual labourers and were eligible for regular engagement under the applicable rules, subject to the prescribed conditions.
The court modified the tribunal’s operative directions rather than setting aside the relief altogether. It directed the authorities to take up the eligible workers’ cases immediately and extend the benefit of regular engagement from the date each worker completed 10 years of continuous service.
The Bench also recognised their entitlement to related benefits in accordance with the applicable rules.
The ruling reinforces the principle that public employment must follow established recruitment procedures and cannot be exchanged for private property, while preserving the separate rights of eligible long-serving casual workers under the statutory framework.
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