J&K&L High Court Engaged A BPL Woman As Anganwadi Worker After She Was Cheated Out Of Her Engagement By Govt. Officials

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court bench comprising Justice Rahul Bharti recently ordered the engagement of a below poverty line woman in anaganwadi as she had been duped of her right to be engaged by the government officials.

In the matter at hand, the petitioner is a woman belonging to below poverty line and her husband has 50% upper limb permanent disability. She was entitled to be engaged as an anganwadi worker on meager salary but was duped of the same by the sarpanch of the village to get his daughter -in -law engaged in the work in which three government officials lent their full role. Resultantly, the petitioner approached the court with the present Writ Petition.

The court relied on the decision of the Supreme Court in Sachin Kumar and Ors v. Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board and observed that this situation reflects on trust deficit afflicting the selection process in the field of public employment.

The court observed that in the interview process of the job, the petitioner had 51.44 points while the daughter in law of the Sarpanch had 43 points and since the third applicant suffered disqualification for not being a resident of morha Ghai Panyas, the petitioner is number one candidate entitled for the role. The court further noticed that the three member selection committee decided that the petitioner will not get the role and the basis of this decision was an alleged affidavit dated November 24, 2011. This decision paved the way for respondent no.3 to get the role instead. 

The court observed that it  has no iota of doubt that the petitioner became the victim of foul-play at the end of the respondent no. 7 to which active and passive facilitation was lent by the three member Selection Committee in and before that it was not in any manner possible for the petitioner, who is a middle pass BPL category woman, to know beforehand in November, 2011 that it is she who was going to be number one candidate whereas the respondent no. 6 and the other applicants were to be behind her. Thus, the coming into picture the affidavit allegedly attributed to the petitioner, even if the signatures of the petitioner on the said affidavit are genuine, cannot be said to be an act of the petitioner being conscious of the contents of which it was the affidavit, its import and the effect and the purpose to be used.

The high court noted that it cannot be dispensed with the call of the situation to bring under scanner the role of the officers along with respondent no.7 in enacting the fraud and directed anti corruption bureau Rajouri to undertake an enquiry in the matter for the purpose of ascertaining the culpability, departmental or criminal, if any, on part of member of the selection committee.

The court held that the petitioner is entitled to be engaged as an anaganwadi worker for the anganwadi centre at Ghai Panyas within a period of two months from the date of the order.

CASE: RAJANA DEVI V. STATE OF J&K & ORS.

SWP NO. 1737/2013