Serial No. 17 HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU Case : WP(C) No. 304/2025 CM No. 639/2025 CM No. 640/2025 Cav No. 2464/2024 Muzaffar Ahmad Khanday S/o AbduI Rashid Khanday R/o Village Aftee, Tehsil Warwan, District Kishtwar …Petitioner (s) Through: Mr. Abhinav Sharma, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Abhirash Sharma, Advocate VERSUS 1. Union Territory of J&K Through Commissioner/Secretary to Govt General Administration Department Civil Secretariat, J&K, Jammu -180001 2. J&K Public Service Commission Through its Secretary Resham Ghar Colony, Jam mu/ Solina Srinagar 3. Chairman J&K Public Service Resham Ghar Colony, Jammu / Solina Srinagar 4. Tehsildar, Tehsil Warwan, District Kishtwar ....Official respondents 5. Nitish Sharma S/o Gori Lal R/o village Agral, Sarthal, District Kishtwar 6. Sanjay Singh S/O Sh lanki Nath Thakur R/o Village Lopara, Dachhan, District Kishtwar 7. Mohmad Rafeeq Baba S/o Noor Mohd Baba R/o 310, Village Rathson, Tehsil Beerwah, District Budgam 8. Ankush Singh Chambyal S/O Sh Kulbhushan Singh R/o H. No. 1, Kuthyara, Niabat Bhajja, District Doda 9. Sanam Shahid D/o Shahid Hussain Wani, 2 WP(C) 304 of 2025 R/o Chakka Bhaderwah (Doda) 10. Saquib Ahsan Zargar S/o Mohd Ahsan Zargar R/o 21, Zargar Mohalla, Mundhar Doda 11. Sumaiya Farooq D/o Farooq Ahmad R/o 54 Nagam Banihal, District Ramban 12. Kajal Khajuria D/o Sh K. Gopal R/o VPO Chowki Jandrore, District Udhampur …Performa Respondent(s) Through: Ms. Monika Kohli, Sr.AAG Mr. Rahul Pant, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Dhruv Pant, Advocate Mr. F. A. Natnoo, Advocate CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY DHAR, JUDGE. ORDER 03.03.2025 1. The petitioner has, by way of petition writ petition sought the following reliefs:- I) Mandamus, commanding and directing the respondents No.4, to comply with the judgment and Order dated 07.11.2024 passed in OA No. 1580/2023 by the Hon'ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Jammu Bench and issue EWS Certificate of UT of J&K in favour of the petitioner, as directed by the Central Administrative Tribunal by its above referred order dated 07.11.2024; II) Mandamus, commanding and directing the respondents No 4, to issue EWS certificate of UT of J&K in favour of the petitioner in the same manner, as have been issued by the respective competent authority in favour of the Performa respondents, notwithstanding the fact, that the petitioner (like the Performa respondents) lives in an area, identified as backward area under the J&K Reservation Act read with J&K Reservation Rules but have not taken benefit of RBA Category; III) (Mandamus, commanding and directing the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 to recommend the name of the petitioner to the junior scale of JKAS/J&K Police (G) Service/ J&K Accounts (G) service under EWS Category, in pursuance of 3 WP(C) 304 of 2025 Notification No. OB-PSC (DR-P) of 2022, dated 19.04.2022, with further direction to the GAD, to appoint the petitioner to said service in pursuance of the selection made by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission vide Notification No. PSC/ Exam/ 2023/S/37dated 22.08.2023; after the said respondents receive the EWS certificate of the petitioner of UT of J&K from respondent No. 4 in compliance to the above referred Judgment and order dated 07.11.2024; IV) Prohibition, restraining the respondents Nos. 2 and 3, from recommending the name/s of any less meritorious candidate/s (less meritorious than the petitioner) for CCE- 2022 against the vacancy against which, the petitioner had been selected till the EWS Certificate of UT of J&K in favour of the petitioner is received by the respondent PSC.” 2. The facts giving rise to filing of the writ petition are that vide Notification No. OB-PSC (DR-P) of 2022, dated 19.04.2022 applications through online mode were invited for appearing in the J&K Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination, 2022. Out of total 220 posts 22 posts were reserved for EWS Category. It appears that the petitioner who claims to be belonging to EWS Category participated in the selection process viz preliminary examination, main examination and interview and qualified the same. He was called for medical examination, but when the final selection list was issued the name of the petitioner was found missing. Upon enquiry it was found by the petitioner that because he belongs to a backward area, as such, the official respondents held him not eligible for appointment under EWS Category. 3. Aggrieved by the action of the official respondents, the petitioner along with similarly situated other candidates filed an Original Application before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Jammu Bench, Jammu. The said 4 WP(C) 304 of 2025 application came to be disposed of by the CAT vide its judgment dated 07.11.2024. The operative portion of the judgment is reproduced as under:- “(i) The Tehsildars concerned are directed to ascertain if the applicants had earlier been benefited from any other reserved category certificate except EWS category. In case, the applicants have not been benefited from any other reserved category certificate, and if they are eligible, the Tehsildars concerned should issue EWS certificate of UT of J&K in their favour within a month, as per reservation rules. (ii) In case, the applicants are able to obtain a fresh EWS certificate for applying for jobs in the UT of J&K, the respondents shall consider the same and take further steps to appoint the applicants within a month thereafter. (iii) In case, the applicants are unable to obtain a fresh EWS certificate for applying for jobs in the UT of J&K, the respondents shall go ahead with the selection process for the next meritorious candidates.” 4. It has been contended that judgment dated 07.11.2024 was served by the petitioner upon the respondents including respondent No. 4-Tehsildar,Tehsil Warwan, District Kishtwar calling upon him to issue EWS Certificate of UT of J&K in favour of the petitioner, so that he could produce the same before the J&K Public Service Commission to enable the respondent- Public Service Commission to recommend his name to General Administration Department (GAD) for appointment in the CCE 2022 Services under EWS Category. It has been contended that the respondent No. 4-Tehsildar was obliged to comply with the direction of the CAT within a period of one month, but despite lapse of one month he has not taken any action pursuant to the said direction. The petitioner apprehends that because of inaction of respondent No. 4-Tehsildar, less meritorious candidates may get selected against the vacancy in respect of which the petitioner is entitled to be selected. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record of the case. 5 WP(C) 304 of 2025 6. As is clear from the reliefs sought by the petitioner in the instant writ petition, that a direction upon respondent No. 4-Tehsildar for implementation of order dated 07.11.2024 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, Jammu is being sought. The other directions pertain to recommendation of name of the petitioner for his appointment to the junior scale of JKAS/J&K Police (G) Service/ J&K Accounts (G) Service under EWS Category with a further direction restrain the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 from recommending name of any less meritorious candidate under the EWS Category. 7. I am afraid a writ petition claiming implementation of a direction of the Central Administrative Tribunal cannot be maintained because of availability of alternate and efficacious remedy to the petitioner. Section 17 of the Administrative Tribunals Act vests jurisdiction and power with a Tribunal in respect of contempt of itself and the said power is akin to the power of the High Court under the Contempt of Courts Act 1971. Besides this, Section 27 of the Administrative Tribunals Act vests power with the Tribunal to execute final orders passed by it. Thus, the petitioner has a statutory remedy available to him before the Tribunal for execution of the order passed by the Tribunal whereby certain directions have been issued to respondent No. 4-Tehsildar. In case the directions are not being complied with by respondent No 4-Tehsildar, it is always open to the petitioner to move the Central Administrative Tribunal by way of an application either under Section 17 or under Section 27 of the Administrative Tribunals Act. 8. It is a well settled law that in a case where a litigant has an alternate and efficacious remedy available to him, the High Court would be reluctant to exercise its writ jurisdiction. In the present case, as already stated, the petitioner 6 WP(C) 304 of 2025 has not only an alternate but it has also an efficacious remedy available to him under the provisions of the Administrative Tribunals Act. The instant writ petition is, therefore, not maintainable to the extent of relief clauses (I) and (II). 9. So far as other reliefs prayed by the petitioner are concerned, the same involve his selection/appointment to a civil post. Therefore, relief pertain to “service matters” as defined in Section 3 (q) of the Administrative Tribunals Act. A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in case of L. Chandra Kumar vs. Union of India and others, (1997) 3 SCC 261 has made it clear that it would not be open for the litigants to directly approach the High Court in matters relating to service disputes cognizable by CAT, but the decision of the Tribunal will be subject to the scrutiny before a Division Bench of the High Court within whose jurisdiction the concerned Tribunal falls. Therefore, so far as relief clauses (III) & (IV) are concerned, the petitioner has option of moving the Tribunal in the first instance or if he is aggrieved of any observation of the Tribunal passed in the earlier application filed by him before the said Tribunal, he is also at liberty to file a writ petition challenging the said judgment. One thing is clear that the instant writ petition in respect of the reliefs claimed by the petitioner is not maintainable. 10. For the foregoing reasons, the instant writ petition is held to be not maintainable and is dismissed, as such, leaving it open to the petitioner to workout appropriate remedy. (Sanjay Dhar) Judge JAMMU 03.03.2025 Bir Whether order is reportable: No