Jammu & Kashmir And Ladakh High Court Monthly Digest: February 2025

Nominal Index:Rajinder Singh Vs Abdul Aziz 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 16Abdul Gani Akhnoor vs State of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 17Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir vs Farman Ali 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 18Rathika Pruthi vs Contonment Board (Badami bagh) thr. Chief Executive Officer 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 19Tarun Bahl vs UT of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 20Mohammad Amin Sheikh & Khalida Begum vs....

Suit For Damages For Wrongful Dismissal Not Maintainable Until Termination Is Challenged And Declared Wrongful: J&K High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that a suit for damages due to wrongful dismissal is not maintainable unless the termination is first challenged and declared wrongful. The court observed that the plaintiff has neither pleaded nor made any attempt to demonstrate that the impugned order of dismissal was in violation of any terms of his employment.A bench of Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul...

Lok Adalat Is Meant For Conciliated Settlement Of Disputes, Not For Orders On Merits: J&K High Court Directs Training Of Judicial Officers

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that Lok Adalats have no adjudicatory powers; they can only record settlements between willing parties. The court stated that if a compromise is not reached, the case must be referred back to the appropriate court.The court noted that the impugned award passed by the CJM in the Lok Adalat did not mention any settlement between the parties, and the...

Centre Notifies Appointment Of Three Additional Judges As Permanent Judges Of J&K And Ladakh High Court

The Central Government has officially notified the appointment of three Additional Judges Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Justice Rajesh Sekhri, and Justice Mohammad Yousuf Wani—as Permanent Judges of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The notification follows the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation dated March 5, 2025.Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal took to Twitter...

“Antithetical To Concept Of Equality": J&K High Court Halts Promotions Without Consideration Of Candidates' SC/ST Reservation

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has restrained the government from making any promotions unless candidates from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories entitled to reservation are duly considered.Delivering a major relief to reserved category employees who have long been denied their rightful promotions due to a controversial government circular Justice...

Benefit Of Reservation In Promotion Available To All Under Article 16(4A), J&K Citizens Cannot Be Treated Differently: High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has expressed its strong disapproval of the circular issued by the General Administration Department directing all the Administrative Secretaries to keep vacant the slots meant for reserved category employees. The Court held that denying the benefit of reservation in promotion to scheduled castes and keeping their seats vacant would lead to treating citizens...

State Authorities Must Maintain Anonymity Of Victim In Cases U/S 376 Or POCSO Act: J&K High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the Registry to immediately redact a prosecutrix/victim's name from the identified pages and any other additional pages flagged by the prosecution in a criminal case.The court ordered that police, forensic science laboratories (FSL), and medical professionals examining the prosecutrix must ensure that the name of the prosecutrix is not to be given...

Two Decades Of Continuous Services Doesn't Give Right Of Regularization Unless Formal Recruitment Process Is Followed: J&K High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that serving in a department for more than 20 years without following the due process of recruitment does not give the right to said employee to seek the regularization of services.The court said that the engagement of the petitioner, who was engaged as a sweeper on a daily wage basis and its continuation thereafter, was without any due process of...

Unexplained Delay In Issuing Preventive Detention Order Casts Doubt On Magistrate's Subjective Satisfaction: J&K High Court

Underscoring the sanctity of procedural fairness the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has ruled that “delay, unless satisfactorily explained in making a preventive detention order, throws considerable doubt on the genuineness of the subjective satisfaction” of the detaining authority.Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice M A Chowdhary made these observations while quashing...

Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Repatriation Of Justice Atul Sreedharan Back To Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Supreme Court Collegium, during its meeting on March 6, 2025, has recommended the repatriation of Justice Atul Sreedharan, currently serving as a Judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, to his parent High Court in Madhya Pradesh.Justice Sreedharan was initially appointed as a Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on April 7, 2016. In early 2023, he sought a transfer...

“No Incident Beyond S.107 CrPC Proceedings, Vague Allegations": J&K High Court Quashes Detention Of Alleged Terror Sympathiser

Quashing the preventive detention of one Mohd. Altaf Najar, a B.Tech graduate from Pulwama, detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) as an alleged terror sympathizer the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court found that the detention was based solely on proceedings initiated under Section 107 CrPC, with no concrete incidents or allegations linking the detenue to any terrorist...

Trial Court Has No Inherent Powers To Recall Or Review Its Own Final Order: J&K High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that it is not open to the trial court to review its own final orders. The court held that in such cases, the only option available to the aggrieved party is to challenge the said order before the High Court.The court took note of Section 362 of the CrPC, which prohibits a criminal court from altering or reviewing its final orders, except for...