Supreme Court Clears 20-Year-Old Jail Warder Recruitment in J&K

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was "not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court". "The Special Leave Petition(s) are, accordingly, dismissed," the Justice Nath-led Bench said, while disposing of all pending applications.

The SLP arose from a December 21, 2023, judgment of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, which had upheld an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) setting aside the cancellation of the 2005 recruitment process for 73 posts of Warders in the Prisons Department.

In its detailed judgment, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court had pulled up the authorities for cancelling the recruitment process after it had substantially progressed and for keeping the posts vacant for several years.

A Bench of Justices Tashi Rabstan and Rajesh Sekhri noted that pursuant to recruitment advertisement, eligible candidates had applied and subsequently cleared physical and outdoor tests conducted in 2010, followed by literacy tests and document verification in January 2011. Despite this, the final results were never declared.

The Justice Rabstan-led Bench had observed that the authorities had "kept the matter lingering on for more than 13 years" and ultimately cancelled the entire selection process in February 2019 by invoking alleged procedural irregularities. Rejecting the government's stand, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court noted that even the Department of Law had twice advised that once the selection process had advanced to such a stage, it could not be withdrawn.

"Once the selection process has almost been completed, the petitioners-authorities were not expected to act arbitrarily in cancelling the same, that too after such a long period when the posts are still lying vacant since the year 2005," it had said.

The Justice Rabstan-led Bench further held that any procedural irregularities, if at all, could have been rectified without cancelling the entire process, observing that there was no allegation of illegality, malpractice or use of unfair means by candidates.

Taking note of the plight of aspirants who had been waiting for nearly two decades, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court directed the authorities to complete the selection process within three months and adopt a "sympathetic view", as most candidates had crossed the age bar and "have no scope to get another job as the posts were advertised in the year 2005".

Senior advocate Dr Anindita Pujari, instructed by advocates Piyush Dwivedi, Adil Muneer, and Shaileshwar Yadav, Radhika Mahopatra and Aushaq Hussain represented 172 candidates before the apex court.

Following the Supreme Court's refusal to interfere in the matter, the directions of the J&K and Ladakh High Court have attained finality, thereby clearing the way for the completion of the long-stalled recruitment process in the Jammu & Kashmir Prisons Department.

- IANS