J&K HC Rules Kashmiri Pandit Women Retain Migrant Status After Marrying Non-Migrants
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently affirmed that Kashmiri Pandit women who marry non-migrants will not lose their migrant status. This decision upholds a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order favoring two women whose provisional selection under the Prime Minister's employment package had been revoked due to their marital status.
The petitioners, Seema Koul and Vishalni Koul, were selected in 2017 for the post of legal assistant in the Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction. However, their selection was nullified on the grounds that they had married non-migrants and, as a result, were deemed to have lost their migrant status. In response, they approached the High Court in 2018.
In its ruling, a division bench comprising Justices Atul Sreedharan and Mohammad Yousuf Wani questioned whether a woman, granted migrant status due to her family's forced displacement from the Kashmir Valley, should lose that status solely because of her marriage to a non-migrant. The court deemed such a stance to be discriminatory and contrary to the principles of justice.
The bench observed that it is unreasonable to expect migrant women to remain unmarried or restrict their choice of spouse to maintain their migrant status. The judges further emphasized that patriarchy is evident in cases where male migrants retain their status despite marrying non-migrants, whereas women face discrimination under similar circumstances. The court firmly stated that such inequality has no place in matters of state or union territory employment.
The High Court also dismissed a writ petition filed by the Union Territory against the CAT order dated May 16, describing the tribunal's decision as “just and proper.” It rejected the argument that the women’s alleged non-disclosure of their marital status warranted disqualification, noting that the advertisement for the employment package did not stipulate any such condition. Additionally, the appellants failed to demonstrate how this non-disclosure resulted in any injustice to other candidates.
Nearly 4,000 Kashmiri Pandit migrants are currently employed under the Prime Minister's employment package, which was introduced in 2008. The program comprises two key components: providing 6,000 jobs to community youth and constructing 6,000 housing units for recruited employees. This judgment reinforces the principle of equal treatment and justice for migrant women under the package.
Case Title: UT of J&K & Others V/s Seema Koul & Anr.
Date: November-11-2024
Bench: Justice Atul Sreedharan, Justice Mohammed Yousuf Wani
[Read/Download order]
