HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU WP(C) No. 3485/2019 CM No. 7263/2019 c/w CCP(S) No. 51/2020 Sandeep Singh Mehta …..Appellant(s)/Petitioner(s) Through: Mrs. Surinder Kour, Sr. Advocate with Ms. Manpreet Kour, Advocate vs State of J&K and ors. .…. Respondent(s) Through: Mr. Dewakar Sharma, Dy. AG Coram: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE JAVED IQBAL WANI, JUDGE ORDER 08.07.2025 ORAL WP(C) No. 3485/2019 1. The petitioner in the instant petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, has averred that being possessed of a degree of B.Tech in Civil Engineering, he came to be engaged by respondent 2-Institute in terms of order dated 19.10.2016 as Junior Engineer for a period of three months on contractual basis against consolidated remuneration of Rs. 15,000/- per month, which engagement came to be further extended in terms of order dated 18.01.2017 for further period of three months or till completion of works undertaken by the Institute followed by extension order dated 18.07.2017, 20.09.2017 and lastly in terms of order dated 01.01.2018, contractual engagement of the Serial No. 28 2 WP(C) No. 3485/2019 c/w CCP(S) No. 51/2020 petitioner was further extended by three months or till completion of the works undertaken by the respondent-Institute. 2. It is being further stated that the respondent-Institute issued an Advertisement Notice on 31.10.2017 and invited the applications therein for making engagement as Site Engineers, in response whereof, the petitioner applied and consequently came to be engaged as Site Engineer by the respondent-Institute in terms of order dated 20.02.2018, which engagement was made for a period of one year or till completion of the project undertaken by the Institute, whichever is earlier, against the consolidated salary of Rs. 22,000/- per month and that the said contractual engagement of the petitioner came to be extended upto 30.06.2019 or till completion of the construction work and that the petitioner continued to serve the respondent-Institute even after the expiry of period of 30.06.2019, but the respondent-Institute did not release the consolidated salary in favour of the petitioner, feeling aggrieved whereof, the petitioner submitted a representation before the respondent-Institute which also did not evoke any response, whereafter the petitioner filed the instant petition. 3. 3. It is being next stated by the petitioner that the respondent-Institute has issued service rules, namely, “J&K Entrepreneurship Development Institute Services and Recruitment Rules of 2013” and in terms of Chapter „II‟ of the said Rules, the employees of the Institute are classified into Permanent, Probationer, Contractual and Intern and in respect of the Contractual employees under the said Rules, it is provided that the contractual employee is an employee who is engaged 3 WP(C) No. 3485/2019 c/w CCP(S) No. 51/2020 on contract to fill up a permanent vacancy or post and has not completed two years of contractual service and secondly the contractual employee is an employee who has been appointed for a limited period of work temporary in nature or who is employed temporarily as an additional employee with a temporary increase in work of a permanent nature and thirdly a contractual employee is an appointment which is made for specific projects and terminates with the completion of the project. It is being stated that since the petitioner came to be appointed as Site Engineer after being subjected to a selection by the respondent- Institute, the petitioner ought to have been allowed to continue as Site Engineer till completion of the project undertaken by the respondent- Institute notwithstanding terms of the engagement provided in the order of his engagement or else the order of extension which had to expire on 30.06.2019. 4. Objections to the petition have been filed by the respondents, wherein it is being inter alia, stated that the petitioner came to be engaged by the Institute for monitoring and supervising various construction works, in that, the Institute had been created to train the youth of then State of J&K in the field of entrepreneurship and other various business development support services, start up finances and enterprises creation courses and while undertaking various construction work at various projects, the Institute has been making engagements like that of the petitioner for monitoring and supervising such constructions and that the petitioner, as such, came to be engaged 4 WP(C) No. 3485/2019 c/w CCP(S) No. 51/2020 as contractual employee with a specific time stipulation in the orders of engagement of such contractual appointment besides providing therein that the engagement will continue till the completion of the project and that the said contractual engagement of the petitioner was extended upto 30.06.2019 in terms of order dated 26.02.2019 or till completion of the construction work “whichever is earlier” and further no extension was granted for contractual appointment of the petitioner after 30.06.2019 notwithstanding non completion of the project work and that otherwise also, respondent 1 herein under rules controlled the Institute in its working and had provided standing instructions and norms for non extension of the engagement of the contractual employees, as a consequence whereof as well, the contractual engagement of the petitioner beyond 30.06.2019 was not extended and also that the Institute did not execute any construction work of any project w.e.f. 14.07.2019 pursuant to the directions of the Administrative Department rendering it incapable of extending the contractual service of the petitioner beyond 30.06.2019, Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 5. It is an admitted fact that the petitioner initially came to be engaged as Junior Engineer by the respondent-Institute in terms of order dated 19.10.2016 on contractual basis initially for a period of three months, which engagement of the petitioner came to be extended from time to time. 6. It is also an admitted fact that the petitioner came to be engaged yet again on contractual basis but as Site Engineer advertised by the 5 WP(C) No. 3485/2019 c/w CCP(S) No. 51/2020 respondent-Institute in terms of advertisement notice dated 31.10.2017, pursuant to order of engagement dated 20.02.2018 initially for a period of one year or till completion of the project “whichever is earlier”, which engagement of the petitioner came to be extended in terms of order dated 26.02.2019 upto 30.06.2019 or till completion of the construction work “whichever is earlier”. 7. Having regard to the aforesaid admitted position obtaining in the matter, the short question for determination of the Court would be as to whether the petitioner can seek extension of his contractual appointment beyond 30.06.2019 as provided in the extension order dated 26.02.2019. The question is no more res integra and stands settled in a series of judgments of the Apex Court including passed in case titled as „Yogesh Mahajan vs. Professor R.C. Deka, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ reported in (2018) 3 SCC 218, wherein in Para ‘6’, following has been held as under:- “6. It is settled law that no contract employee has a right to have his or her contract renewed from time to time. That being so, we are in agreement with the Central Administrative Tribunal and the High Court that the petitioner was unable to show any statutory or other right to have his contract extended beyond 30.06.2010. At best, the petitioner could claim that the authorities concerned should consider extending his contract. We find that in fact due consideration was given to this and in spite of a favourable recommendation having been made, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences did not find it appropriate or necessary to continue with his services on a contractual basis. We do not find any arbitrariness in the view taken 6 WP(C) No. 3485/2019 c/w CCP(S) No. 51/2020 by the authorities concerned and therefore reject the contention of the petitioner.” 8. Having regard to the aforesaid position of law inasmuch as factual position noticed in the preceding paras qua engagement of the petitioner as Site Engineer in terms of order dated 20.02.2018 extended in terms of order dated 26.02.2019 till 30.06.2019 with stipulation that such engagement is extended only upto 30.06.2019 or till completion of the construction work “whichever is earlier”, the petitioner in law cannot seek any of the reliefs sought in the petition including extension of his contractual appointment on any ground whatsoever including those urged in the instant petition, having agreed to the terms and conditions of his engagement as Site Engineer provided in initial order of engagement dated 20.02.2018 and extension order dated 26.02.2019. 9. Viewed thus, for the aforesaid reasons, the petition is found to be without any merit and is, accordingly, dismissed. CCP(S) No. 51/2020 10. In view of the dismissal of the petition as above, contempt notice issued is recalled and the contempt proceedings are closed. 11. Disposed of. (JAVED IQBAL WANI) JUDGE Jammu 08.07.2025 Neha-II Whether the order is speaking: Yes/No Whether the order is reportable: Yes/No NEHA KUMARI 2025.07.14 05:20 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document