Srinagar: The High Court has directed the J&K government to allow the disengaged consolidated and contingency-based employees to resume their duties in the Corporation and grant them service benefits including wages.
The aggrieved persons engaged on consolidated, need, contractual and contingency basis in the J&K Handicrafts Corporation had been disengaged vide an order No 91-JKHC of 2022 dated 16.09.2022 issued by the Managing Director of the Corporation.
They pleaded in their writ petition that while their continuation and absorption in the Corporation was in process, the Managing Director of the Corporation on the basis of an ‘Alert note’ by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), disengaged their services.
They pleaded that their services were terminated without being given an opportunity of being heard.
Allowing their petition the bench of Justice M A Chowdhary observed, “it will be pertinent to look at the law with respect to stigmatic order, in the context of tenure appointments, therefore, the disengagement of petitioners from services is not only unreasonable but penal in nature also, passed without affording opportunity to meet the charge, thus, the order is unsustainable”.
It ordered “the order No. 91-JKHC of 2022 dated 16.09.2022 issued by Managing Director of the J&K Handicrafts Corporation, communication No. IC-HHC/30/2022-02 dated 07.09.2022 issued by Under Secretary to Government, Industries & Commerce Department addressed to Managing Director Handicrafts & Handloom Corporation, and Alert Notice No. 48/2022 dated 27.06.2022, issued by Anti Corruption Bureau Srinagar to the Principal Secretary to Government, General Administration Department, are quashed, qua petitioners”.
It also directed the respondent authorities “to allow the petitioners to perform their duties attached to the posts as was assigned to them on being engaged on consolidated/need/contractual/contingency basis in the respondent-Corporation and they be granted all the service benefits including wages etc., to which they are entitled to. (III) Respondents are directed to release the withheld wages, if any, duly earned by the petitioners, for the period their services had been utilized. (IV) The Committee, so constituted by the Government vide Order dated 22.11.2021(supra), shall examine the proposed policy submitted by the Managing Director on 08.01.2021 and thereafter the Board of Directors of the Corporation, shall pass appropriate orders thereon”.
The bench however made it clear that the quashment of the impugned orders will not prevent the respondents from initiating action against the alleged illegal engagements of the petitioners in accordance with the rules, if warranted in the facts and circumstances.
