Srinagar, Oct 8: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has ruled that government employment cannot be offered in exchange for land donated for public projects, holding that such appointments would violate the constitutional principles of equality and fair opportunity in public recruitment.

At the same time, the court held that casual or daily-rated workers who have completed 10 years of continuous service may be considered for regular engagement under the applicable rules, subject to fulfilment of the prescribed conditions.
A Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice M A Chowdhary passed the ruling while modifying a February 3 order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu Bench, concerning workers engaged by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department after donating land for tube-well construction.
In its October 5 judgment, the High Court said permanent government appointments must be made strictly in accordance with recruitment rules and through a fair selection process consistent with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
The Bench observed that treating government employment as consideration for donated land would effectively amount to “selling” public posts and would be contrary to the rule of law.
The court also criticised the practice of engaging individuals as daily wagers, casual labourers, ad hoc employees or on consolidated wages without following an open and transparent recruitment process.
It held that authorities cannot selectively engage people and subsequently use regularisation policies to confer permanent employment, describing such a practice as a “fraud on the Constitution.”
The case originated in 2014, when several individuals donated one kanal of land each to the government for construction of tube wells. Their gift deeds contained provisions relating to government employment in return for the land.
However, instead of permanent appointments, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department engaged them as casual workers.
The workers approached the High Court in 2019 seeking regularisation. Following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the petitions were transferred to the CAT.
Before the tribunal, the government submitted that their cases were governed by rules notified on December 21, 2017, concerning regular engagement of casual workers. The rules also covered persons who had donated land to the government and subsequently worked as casual labourers.
One of the key conditions was completion of 10 years of continuous service.
As the workers had completed more than a decade of service, the CAT directed their regularisation against available posts, subject to applicable service conditions.
The High Court, however, drew a distinction between a right to permanent employment arising from a land-donation agreement and eligibility for regular engagement under applicable rules.
It rejected the claim that a promise contained in a gift deed could independently confer a right to permanent government employment.
At the same time, the Bench held that the workers' eligibility for regular engagement under the 2017 rules could not be ignored merely because their initial engagement followed land donation.
The court noted that the CAT had referred to the rules but had directed regularisation without expressly making it subject to their prescribed conditions.
Accordingly, the High Court modified the tribunal's order rather than setting it aside completely.
It directed the authorities to consider the cases of eligible workers for regular engagement under the 2017 rules. Those fulfilling all conditions would be entitled to regular engagement from the date they completed 10 years of continuous service as casual or daily-rated workers, along with consequential benefits.
The ruling makes the constitutional position clear: land donation cannot buy a government job, but qualifying long-serving workers remain entitled to consideration under the applicable regularisation rules.