HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU LPA No. 190/2025 Mushtaq Ahmed, Aged 50 years, S/o Nazir Hussain, R/o Village Prori Gujjran, Tehsil Koteranka, District Rajouri. .....Applicant(s)/Petitioner(s) Through :- Mr. Shafiq Choudhary, Advocate v/s 1. UT of J & K through Commissioner/Secretary Revenue Department, Civil Secretariat at Jammu/Srinagar. 2. Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri. 3. Additional Commissioner Revenue (ACR), Rajouri. 4. Tehsildar, Kotranka, Rajouri. 5. Malika Khatoon, W/o Mohd. Amin, R/o Village Prori Gujjran, Tehsil Koteranka, District Rajouri. .....Respondent(s) Through :- Mrs. Monika Kohli, Sr. AAG CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV KUMAR, JUDGE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY PARIHAR, JUDGE ORDER (ORAL) 1 5. 0 9. 2 0 2 5 1. Impugned in this intra Court appeal is a judgment/order dated 08.08.2025 [“the impugned order”] passed by the learned Single Judge [“the Writ Court”] in WP (C) No. 173/2024 titled “Malika Khatoon Vs. UT of J & K & Ors.”, whereby the Writ Court has directed the official respondents to conduct the election for the post of Lambardar of Village Prori Gujjra, Tehsil Koteranka, District Rajouri within a period of three months from the date of receipt of copy of the order. Sr. No. 06 2 LPA No. 190/2025 2. The impugned order is assailed by the appellant, primarily on the ground, that the impugned order came to be passed on the basis of a consensus arrived at by the counsel for Respondent No. 5 and the official respondents, whereas the appellant was not afforded any opportunity of being heard. 3. Having heard learned counsel for the parties at length and perused the material available on record, we are of the considered opinion that in almost more than hundreds of cases of similar nature, the Writ Court has already directed the official respondents to conduct the general elections of Lambardar in various villages of the UT of J & K. There is no dispute with regard to the fact that the appellant before us has been appointed as Lambardar on temporary basis and cannot continue indefinitely. Sooner or later, the elected Lambardar has to take over and for that, conducting of the general elections by the official respondents is the requirement of law. 4. For the foregoing reasons, we do not find any wrong with the impugned order. The appeal is, therefore, without any merit and the same, is accordingly, dismissed. We, however, clarify that the appellant, if in position, shall continue till the general elections are conducted, provided he is not declared ineligible to hold the post for misconduct or non performance of his duties. (Sanjay Parihar) (Sanjeev Kumar) Judge Judge JAMMU 15.09.2025 Manan Whether the order is speaking : Yes/No Whether the order is reportable : Yes/No