Srinagar, Oct 22: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has directed the government to consider the regular engagement of casual workers who donated land for the construction of tube wells, granting them the benefit of regular engagement under the 2017 Rules from the dates they completed 10 years of continuous service.

A Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice M.A. Chowdhary modified an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu Bench, which had directed the government to regularise the workers against available posts.
In its October 5, 2026, judgment, the High Court ruled that the workers’ cases must be considered under the Jammu and Kashmir Casual and Other Workers–Regular Engagement Rules, 2017, subject to fulfilment of the prescribed eligibility conditions.
The case arose from a petition filed by the Jammu and Kashmir government challenging the CAT’s February 3, 2026, order in TA No. 3755/2020.
According to the court record, the workers were engaged as casual labourers in the Irrigation and Flood Control Department in 2014 after donating one kanal of land each, free of cost, for the construction of tube wells in different villages. The gift deeds executed in favour of the government stipulated that they would be provided government jobs in return for the land.
The workers approached the High Court in 2019, seeking regularisation. Their petition was later transferred to the CAT following the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government did not dispute the land donation or their continued service since 2014. However, it maintained that their cases were governed by the 2017 Rules, notified through SRO 520 on December 21, 2017, and could be considered for regular engagement only after they fulfilled the prescribed conditions.
The CAT had held that the workers had completed 10 years of service and directed their regularisation against available posts. The High Court, however, clarified that a promise of employment in exchange for land could not override constitutional requirements governing public appointments.
The Bench observed that permanent government appointments must follow the applicable recruitment rules and a fair, transparent selection process in accordance with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality before the law and equal opportunity in public employment.
It cautioned that engaging individuals as daily wagers, casual workers or ad hoc employees without a transparent selection process and subsequently regularising them through policies could amount to a fraud on the Constitution.
Nevertheless, the court held that the workers were entitled to consideration for regular engagement under the 2017 Rules upon completing 10 years of continuous service, subject to the prescribed eligibility criteria.
Modifying the CAT’s order, the High Court directed the government to consider their cases immediately and extend the benefit of regular engagement from the respective dates on which they completed 10 years of service, along with all consequential benefits.
The writ petition was accordingly disposed of.