Kiran Raj

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, in its judgment dated December 27, 2024, dismissed a series of writ petitions filed by former employees of the Jammu and Kashmir Handicrafts (S&E) Corporation seeking pensionary and retiral benefits. Justice Sanjay Dhar, while pronouncing the judgment, held that the petitioners, being Piece Rated Workers, were not entitled to benefits accorded to regular or permanent employees of the Corporation.

The petitions were filed by former Piece Rated Workers or their legal representatives, challenging the denial of pensionary benefits on parity with employees of other industrial units such as the Jammu and Kashmir Industries Limited and the J&K Handloom Silk Weaving Factory. The petitioners relied on a previous judgment delivered in SWP No.1250/2002, which granted pensionary benefits to employees of certain units based on their classification as civil posts. The petitioners also cited several government orders, including Order No.35-IND of 2018, to support their claims.

The respondents, represented by Deputy Advocate General Mubashir Majid Malik, argued that the petitioners were not regular or graded employees and hence could not be equated with employees who had been granted pensionary benefits. It was contended that the Piece Rated Workers were paid wages based on daily market rates and were never regularized during their tenure with the Corporation.

Justice Sanjay Dhar noted that the petitioners’ reliance on SWP No.1250/2002 and subsequent government orders was misplaced, as these applied exclusively to regular employees of the specified industrial units. The Court stated, “The Piece Rated Workers, as explained by the respondents, are paid their wages according to their earning per day as per the market rate. Therefore, a Piece Rated Worker cannot be equated with an employee of the Corporation who was on its regular establishment.”

The Court further observed that the policy framework governing pensionary benefits clearly distinguishes between regular and non-regular employees. Justice Dhar remarked, “The Government Order dated 25.01.2018 pertains to employees of the Handicrafts Corporation and other industrial units who were regular or permanent staff. The petitioners, admittedly, were not regular employees and cannot claim parity.”

The petitioners also sought to rely on a judgment in Hamidullah Andrabi v. State of J&K, which had granted similar benefits to employees of the J&K State Forest Corporation. The Court dismissed this contention, noting that the Andrabi judgment was later overturned by a Division Bench. Moreover, the Andrabi case pertained to regular employees, a category to which the petitioners did not belong.

The Court found no merit in the petitions and concluded that the petitioners’ claims were unsustainable under the prevailing legal and policy framework. It stated, “For the foregoing reasons, I do not find any merit in these writ petitions. The same are dismissed accordingly.”

In addition to the dismissal of the writ petitions, a contempt petition filed against the respondents for non-compliance with an earlier order was also disposed of. The Court held that the interim order, having merged with the final judgment, no longer warranted further proceedings.

Case Title: Mohammad Yousuf Mir & Ors. v. Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Others
Case Numbers: WP(C) No. 642/2022, WP(C) No. 54/2022, WP(C) No. 384/2022
Bench : Justice Sanjay Dhar

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