STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Division Bench of State High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice B.S Walia on Tuesday allowed the Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) filed for quashing the Advertisement Notice No. 01 of 2012 dated 19th July 2012 and seeking direction to consider petitioners’ cases for appointment under PM’s Special Package for Return and Rehabilitation Scheme and directed respondents to accommodate the appellants on available posts as per their qualification within two months from the date of receipt of copy of this order.
The LPA has been filed by Ajay Raina and others. While allowing the LPA, Division Bench observed that it is not in dispute that a number of posts were created and Special Rules known as the Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri Migrants (Special Drive) Recruitment Rules, 2009, were also issued under SRO 412 for selecting the persons who are eligible as migrants.
Based on the said Notification issued, the appellants have applied for the posts. It is also not in dispute that they are also migrants and eligible for appointment.
However, due to non availability of vacancies, as several posts were reserved, the appellants were not accommodated.
The Services Selection Recruitment Board, after noticing the fact that no Reserved Category Candidate is available, submitted a proposal for de-reservation of the posts to the Government and the posts were also de-reserved therefore the vacancies remained un-filled.
According to the counsel for the appellants, there are two posts vacant due to non-joining of the candidates and without accommodating the appellants numbering 18, the Service Selection Recruitment Board issued fresh advertisement notice dated 19th July 2012.
Therefore, they were forced to challenge the said Advertisement.
Division Bench further observed that Single Judge dismissed the writ petition binding that the waiting list can be operative only for one year in terms of Rule 10 (vii) of SRO 194 and therefore, the appellants have no right to demand appointment against the available vacancies. Division Bench observed that the point in issue is as to whether General Rule which prevails for drawing the waiting list and validity period is applicable when special recruitment is made under the Special Rule, namely, the Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri Migrants (Special Drive) Recruitment Rules, 2009. In absence of validity period of waiting list in the Special Rules, the objection of the claim of the appellants by applying the General Rule cannot be sustained.
The Advertisement Notice was issued calling for applications for filling up the 7,632 vacancies.
The appellants being 18 in number, they can very well be accommodated as they are eligible to be accommodated under the Special Rules and due to reservation of posts only the appellants were not accommodated initially.
In such circumstances, the respondents are bound to select and appoint the appellants (18) under the Special Package and Rehabilitation Scheme and the remaining vacancies alone can be filled up in terms of the advertisement issued by the respondents.JNF
