Under the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010, can employees appointed on an academic arrangement basis be denied regularisation while ad hoc, contractual and consolidated appointees are granted it?

No. Where the duties, tenure, conditions of service and mode of appointment are identical, the two groups are similarly situated, and the exclusion under Section 3(b) rests on nomenclature alone. Such a classification has no intelligible differentia and no rational nexus with the object of the Act, and is invidious discrimination violating Article 14.

Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010 — s.3(b) — s.5 — SRO No. 384 of 2009 — Constitution of India — Art.14 — Art.16 — Regularisation of service — Academic arrangement basis — Reasonable classification — Intelligible differentia — Model employer — Constitution of India — Art.14 — Classification of employees — Nomenclature not determinative — Held: Where appointees on an academic arrangement basis discharge duties, tenure and conditions of service identical to ad hoc, contractual or consolidated appointees, they are similarly situated. Denial of equal treatment resting only on the nomenclature of the engagement is impermissible under Article 14. (¶12) Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010 — s.3(b) — Exclusion of academic arrangement appointees — Held further: The exclusion in Section 3(b) lacks an intelligible differentia and bears no rational nexus with the object of regularising long-standing irregular appointments. It results in invidious discrimination and is unconstitutional and violative of Article 14. (¶12, 13) Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010 — s.5 — Second proviso — Qualifying seven years of service — Held further: Once the conditions in Section 5(i) to (v) stand satisfied, the nature of the initial engagement ceases to have any legal relevance. The second proviso is a beneficial provision and must receive purposive interpretation, protecting employees who complete the qualifying service period. (¶12) Constitution of India — Art.14 — Art.16 — State as model employer — Repackaging of contractual engagement — Held further: The State, as a model employer, cannot repackage a substantially similar mode of engagement under a new nomenclature and then deny regularisation. Section 3(b) declared unconstitutional; the State directed to consider the appellants under Section 5. Appeals allowed. (¶13)

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