Jammu, May 20: Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey today directed High Court Registry not to entertain the writ petitions relating to service disputes of the employees of the Union Territory of J&K and Ladakh and those Central Government Employees who are posted and stationed in these two Union Territories, for which the remedy is with CAT Bench Chandigarh subject to further availability of a Bench at Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
This judgment has been passed in a petition filed by one Fehmeeda Akhter who challenged the order the respondent no. 4, by virtue of which the transfer order of the petitioner being Order No. CMOB/3300-03 dated 03.04.2020 has been rescinded/ cancelled by submitting that she has been performing her duties as a Community Health Officer, CHO, at Primary Health Centre, PHC, Narbal, and during her posting as such an order bearing No. CMOB/3300-03 dated 03.04.2020 came to be issued by the respondent no. 4 whereby the petitioner was transferred to PHC Ichgam and upon her joining at the said place the impugned order was issued just after three days rescinding/ cancelling the order of transfer dated 3rd April, 2020, without any reasons & challenges the same by the petition in hand.
During the course of hearing Advocate General, DC Raina raised an objection about the maintainability of the writ petition before this Court in view of the fact that pursuant to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, and formation of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in terms of the provisions of The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, all service matters of the Government Employee(s) in the said Union Territories, upon issuance of the Notification dated 29th April, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training), are required to be heard and considered only by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Chandigarh, “hereinafter for short as CAT” within whose jurisdiction the matter now falls.
Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey observed that needless to mention that making available the Bench for the litigants of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh is for the Government of India to decide and the Court being conscious of its constitutional limitations cannot pass any direction in respect of constitution/ sitting of the CAT Benches.
With these observations High Court holds that this Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the petition and the same be, instead, presented before the CAT Chandigarh that has the jurisdiction and directed Registrar Judicial of the High Court wing Srinagar/ Jammu not to entertain the writ petitions relating to service disputes of the employees of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh and those Central Government Employees who are posted and stationed in these two Union Territories, for which the remedy is with CAT Bench Chandigarh subject to further availability of a Bench at Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
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