'Shocking' : Supreme Court Slams J&K Admin For 16 Years' Refusal To Comply With HC Order On Regularisation Of Daily Wager

The Supreme Court of India made a scathing observation regarding the 16-year long delay by the UT of J&K in complying with the High Court's order, which directed the government to consider the case of the respondent daily wagers for regularization as per specific Government Order SRO 64 of 1994.

IN 2007, J&K High Court had passed the directions to appellants to consider the case of the respondent at par with other daily wage workers, who had received the benefits of regularization under SRO 64 of 1994 back in 2006.

A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh observed that, “What concerns us is not the delay of decades alone, but also the incontrovertible fact that the poor respondents, being daily wage workers, have been repeatedly harassed by the petitioners by passing cryptic orders, thereby overlooking the true import and spirit of the order of the learned Single Judge.”

The court further stated, “We consider the instant case fit for imposing exemplary costs on the delinquent officers, besides also recommending strong disciplinary actions against them.”

However, the court refrained from passing any such direction, considering the fact that the contempt proceedings were still pending before the Single Judge of the J&K High Court.

The Apex Court also requested the Single Bench to take up the contempt proceedings on a weekly basis and to ensure that the sanctity of the law is upheld.

Earlier, the Division Bench of the J&K High Court had dismissed the Letter Patent Appeal (LPA) filed by the UT of J&K and imposed costs of ₹25,000, which, the court said, could be recovered from the officer on whose advice the LPA was filed.

BACKGROUND:

The respondents are daily wage workers who filed a petition before the J&K High Court for regularization back in 2006. The Single Judge directed the Government of J&K to consider the case of the workers as per SRO 64 of 1994, under which similarly placed wage workers were given the benefits of the SRO.

The government did not comply with the order, which resulted in the filing of a contempt petition in 2010. The matter remained pending for 14 years before passing of the order dated 21-05-2014, wherein the objections filed by the government were rejected. The same order was challenged in the LPA before the High Court, which was also dismissed, leading to the present petition before the Supreme Court.

APPEARANCE:

Mr. Rushab Aggarwal, Adv. Mr.Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR FOR PETITIONERS

Mr. Soayib Qureshi, AOR Ms. Chetna Alagh, Adv. FOR RESPONDENTS

Case-title: UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR & ORS vs ABDUL REHMAN KHANDAY & ORS., 2025, LiveLaw (JKL)

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 303

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