WP(C) No.1210/2023 HIGH COURT OF JAMMU &KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU Reserved on: 03.07.2026 Pronounced on: 10.07.2026 Uploaded on: 10.07.2026 Whether the operative part or full judgment is pronounced: Full WP(C) No.1210/2023 ROZY JAN & ANR. ...PETITIONER(S) Through: - Mr. Aabid Hamid Pandit Advocate. Vs. UT OF J&K & ORS. …RESPONDENT(S) Through: - Mr. Faheem Nisar Shah, GA. CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY DHAR, JUDGE JUDGMENT 1) The petitioners, through the medium of present petition, have sought a direction upon the respondents to appoint them as Aaya/Helper in education Zone Lurgam Tral. They have also challenged the list of Aaya/Helper bearing No.ZEO/L/Estt/2023/284 dated 05.04.2023 of Education Zone, Lurgam, as also the engagement order bearing No.ZEO/LSms/2023/67 dated 28.04.2023. 2) According to the petitioners, petitioner No.1 is daughter of the person who has donated his land measuring 01 kanal under Khasra No.191 situated at Hakwan Tral for establishment of a Government Primary School. Petitioner No.2 is stated to be the daughter-in-law of the land donor. It WP(C) No.1210/2023 has been submitted that the person, who donated the land, was promised of an appointment in lieu of the said land, but none of his family members has been appointed to any post by the respondents. It has been submitted that the petitioners are willing to be engaged under Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme as Aaya/Helper, regarding which advertisement notice has been issued by respondent No.2 by virtue of order No.07 of CHIRAG-2023 dated 09.01.2023. 3) It has been submitted that the petitioners had applied against the said post, however, no receipt was provided to them by respondent No.5. It has been further submitted that instead of appointing the petitioners, respondent No.5 has engaged respondent No.7 against the post of Aaya/Helper vide impugned order dated 05.04.2023. It has been submitted that petitioner No.1 filed objections against the said order, but the same were not considered by the official respondents. According to the petitioners, they are most meritorious candidates for the post of Aaya/Helper as father of petitioner No.1 has donated land for establishment of a school in Zone Lurgam Tral. 4) Reply to the writ petition has been filed by the respondents, in which it has been submitted that pursuant to advertisement notice dated 25.01.2023, 140 applications were received from female candidates of 16 villages. The cut- WP(C) No.1210/2023 off date for submission of applications was 08.02.2023 and five applications were received for PS, Hakwan before the cutoff dated. It has been submitted that the petitioners did not apply for the post upto the cut-off date. According to the respondents, the panel of meritorious and eligible candidates was prepared and notification for proposed engagement was issued vide notification dated 05.04.2023 for inviting objections against the same. It has been submitted that petitioner No.1 filed objections to the proposed engagement with a verbal request to accept the application forms of the petitioners but because cut-off date had already expired, as such, the application forms of the petitioners could not be accepted. Accordingly, engagement order was issued on 28.04.2023 in favour of respondent No.7. 5) It has been submitted that one Mohammad Yaseen Gojar, who was owner of land measuring 01 kanal in Khasra No.44, situated at Hakwan, Satoora, donated the said land for establishment of the school in the year 2008. It has been submitted that as per SSA scheme, the villagers were supposed to donate land out of their own will and volition for construction of buildings without any compensation or other terms and conditions for the purpose of education and welfare of the children of the locality. It has been further submitted that there was no agreement that the department would WP(C) No.1210/2023 absorb any kith or kin of the landowners, including Mohammad Yaseen Gojar. It has been submitted that engagement of Aaya/Helper has to be made in accordance with the guidelines of the scheme and not on the basis of donation of land. 6) I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused record of the case. 7) The petitioners claim that they are entitled to be engaged as Aaya/Helper for Primary School, Hakwan, for the reason that father of petitioner No.1 has donated land for establishment of the school at the said location. The petitioners have not placed on record any document to show that the wards of landowners are to be given any preference for engagement of Aaya/Helper under SSA scheme. In fact, a perusal of the advertisement notice dated 25.01.2023, issued by the official respondents, would reveal that there is no provision for giving any preference to the wards of landowners while making engagement of Aaya/Helper. In any case, it is the specific stand of the official respondents that the petitioners did not apply for engagement of Aaya/Helper within the cut-off date. Thus, there was no question of the official respondents considering the candidature of the petitioners. WP(C) No.1210/2023 8) Apart from the above, a perusal of the record would show that the land was donated for establishment of the school by Mohammad Yaseen Gojar. Petitioner No.1, as per her own showing, is daughter Mohammad Shafi Khan, whereas petitioner No.2 is daughter of Mohammad Ismail Kasana. The claim of the petitioners that petitioner No.1 is daughter of landowner is, therefore, contrary to their own stand. Even otherwise, the land is stated to have been donated by the landowner in the year 2008, whereas the petitioners have sought their engagement pursuant to the advertisement notice issued in the year 2023. At the time of donation of the land, the petitioners would have been minor children and, therefore, even if it is assumed that the landowners were to be given preference while making engagement of Aaya/Helper, they cannot claim to be engaged as such after a lapse of 15 years from the date of donation of the land. 9) For the foregoing reasons, I do not find any merit in this petition. The same is dismissed accordingly. (Sanjay Dhar) Judge SRINAGAR 10.07.2026 “Bhat Altaf-Secretary” Whether the judgment is reportable: YES/NO