Srinagar, Oct 11: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Srinagar Bench, has directed the Jammu and Kashmir Government to consider and decide the regularization claims of 12 Rehbar-e-Janglat personnel in accordance with the applicable policy and rules, preferably within eight weeks after service of a certified copy of its order on the respondents.
The Tribunal disposed of Original Application No. 1104 of 2026 on October 6, asking the authorities to treat the application, along with the representations submitted by the applicants, as a representation and decide their cases through a reasoned and speaking order. The order was passed by a Bench comprising Judicial Member M.S. Latif and Administrative Member Prasant Kumar.
The applicants had approached the Tribunal seeking consideration for absorption or regularization under the Rehbar-e-Janglat Policy notified through Government Order No. 155-FST of 2017, dated June 20, 2017, and subsequent government orders. The policy was framed for the engagement of unemployed forestry graduates, postgraduates and candidates trained through the DDR programme.
According to the application, the scheme was approved through Cabinet Decision No. 96/6/2017 dated June 16, 2017, and 333 additional Forest Guard posts were created in connection with its implementation. The applicants stated that they were engaged by the competent forest authorities as Rehbar-e-Janglat personnel on a consolidated monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 against supernumerary or additional Forest Guard posts.
The applicants contended that the policy envisaged consideration for regularization against Forest Guard vacancies after five years of satisfactory and continuous service. They also relied on subsequent government orders, including Government Order No. 99-JK(FST) of 2021 dated September 15, 2021, under which 234 supernumerary Forest Guard posts were sanctioned for adjustment against vacancies that had accrued in the department.
The personnel argued that they had continued to discharge duties in the Forest Department and its allied wings, acquiring experience in forest protection and management, but their cases for regularization had not been finalised. They sought an applicant-wise assessment of engagement records, qualifications, service length, weightage, seniority and eligibility, along with consideration against available substantive posts.
Their plea was that they were not seeking appointments outside the prescribed rules but implementation of the policy under which they had been engaged. They also sought consideration of their representations and consequential service benefits, including appropriate pay fixation and seniority, wherever found admissible.
The Tribunal noted the applicants’ grievance that, despite the creation of additional posts and the subsequent adjustment of 234 supernumerary posts against vacancies, their regularization cases remained undecided. It directed the respondents to consider the claims in light of Government Order No. 155-FST of 2017, subsequent orders and the applicable rules.
The Bench further directed the authorities to take note of the Supreme Court judgment in Rupesh R. Gaonkar and Others v. State of Goa and Others, cited by the applicants, and extend its benefit if the applicants are found to be squarely covered by the ruling and there is no legal impediment.
The Tribunal, however, did not order the automatic regularisation of the 12 applicants. It clarified that their individual entitlements must be determined on merit and eligibility, and that the exercise must culminate in a reasoned order. The eight-week period is expressed as a preference and is to be calculated from the date a certified copy of the Tribunal’s order is served upon the respondents.
The case places the next step with the Forest Department and the Jammu and Kashmir Government, which must examine the applicants’ records and decide their claims under the existing policy framework. [KNT]
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