Kiran Raj

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar has directed the Union of India and the Jammu & Kashmir Postal Circle to pay a daily wage Safai Karamchari the basic pay in the lowest grade applicable to regular employees in the same role. The division bench comprising Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Puneet Gupta modified the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Srinagar Bench, which had previously denied the petitioner’s claim for regularization and pay parity. The court held that while regularization was not warranted in the absence of due process, the petitioner was entitled to the minimum pay scale applicable to regular employees in the same category.

The petitioner, Farooq Ahmad Janda, was appointed as a Safai Karamchari in the Department of Posts, Government of India, on October 20, 1999. Initially engaged as a daily wager, he continued performing similar duties for over two decades without being formally regularized. His work schedule and responsibilities were comparable to those of regular employees. Despite this, his requests for equal pay and regularization were denied by the authorities. In 2017, he approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, seeking pay parity and regularization, which resulted in a directive to the respondents to consider his representations. However, his claim was rejected in 2018, leading him to challenge the decision before the Tribunal once again in 2020.

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The respondents opposed the petition, contending that the petitioner was engaged intermittently as a daily wager and had not been appointed through the prescribed recruitment process. They maintained that he could not claim parity with regular employees as they were recruited through a structured process and formed a separate class. The Tribunal dismissed the petitioner’s application, concluding that he had not been appointed in a manner that entitled him to regularization. It further recorded that pay parity was inapplicable in the absence of an employer-employee relationship equivalent to that of regular employees.

The High Court examined the Tribunal’s findings and the legal principles applicable to the case. It recorded that the petitioner had been engaged continuously for over two decades, performing the same functions as regular Safai Karamcharies in the postal department. The court referred to State of Punjab & Ors. v. Jagjit Singh & Ors. [(2017) 1 SCC 148] and stated: "A Daily Wager or a temporary employee, performing the duties akin to the duties performed by a regular employee, is, at least, entitled to the basic pay of the regular post."

The court stated: "The petitioner, who was engaged for the work, cannot be paid less than the ones who perform the same duties and responsibilities, may be while working on a regular basis." It also observed: "Some of the daily wage Safai Karamcharies, who were working with the petitioner, came to be appointed on permanent basis against available posts."

Regarding the petitioner’s claim for regularization, the court stated: "There is no merit in the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner that, by rendering more than 20 years continuous service on daily wage basis in the respondent department, the petitioner has acquired a right of regularization of his services."

It further stated: "The engagement of the petitioner as Safai Karamchari on daily wage basis made initially in the year 1999 and continued thereafter was without any due process of recruitment undertaken by the respondents."

Accordingly, the court modified the Tribunal’s order and directed the respondents to pay the petitioner the minimum of the pay scale applicable to Safai Karamcharies/Group ‘D’/MTS employees from the date of filing his first application before the Tribunal in 2017. It instructed the authorities to calculate and disburse the arrears within two months from the date of service of the judgment.

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It recorded: "The respondents shall comply with the directions aforesaid and work out and pay the arrears thereof to the petitioner within two months from the date a copy of this judgment is served upon them. They shall do well to pay to the petitioner immediately and forthwith the basic pay of the post of Safai Karamcharies/ Group ‘D’/ MTS employees."

Advocates Representing the Parties

For petitioner: Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, Advocate,

For respondents: Nazir Ahmad Bhat, Advocate.

Case Title: Farooq Ahmad Janda v. Union of India & Ors.
Case Number: WP (C) No. 1493/2023
Bench: Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Justice Puneet Gupta

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