The Kashmir Pulse

NEW DELHI — The opposition INDIA bloc is preparing to stage a major protest in New Delhi on Monday, October 12, against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, amid continuing political tensions following Saturday’s police action against protesters and opposition leaders.

According to Hindustan Times, citing sources, the opposition alliance is planning a large-scale demonstration after protests on Saturday demanding Kumar’s resignation and raising concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to extend her stay in the national capital and participate in Monday’s demonstration, cancelling her scheduled return to Kolkata.

Banerjee was detained by Delhi Police on Saturday after staging a sit-in near the South Avenue bus stand, according to media reports.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was also detained after joining the protest over the CEC controversy.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee were among others detained during the police action. Dipke and two other CJP leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were subsequently ordered released by a court on Sunday, while most other detainees from Saturday’s crackdown had also been released, according to Reuters and The Times of India.

The police action came amid heightened security arrangements across the capital, with restrictions affecting access to 45 Metro stations on Saturday. Mobile internet services were also temporarily suspended in parts of central Delhi. Reuters reported on Sunday that Metro stations had reopened and internet services had been restored.

The controversy centres on the SIR exercise, which opposition parties allege has resulted in irregularities and the deletion of eligible voters from electoral rolls. The INDIA bloc has demanded Kumar’s resignation and called for greater accountability in the functioning of the poll panel.

The Election Commission has rejected allegations of electoral manipulation and maintained that the revision exercise is being conducted in accordance with established procedures.

Monday’s proposed demonstration is expected to bring together leaders and representatives of several opposition parties as the political confrontation over electoral-roll revision continues.

The latest mobilisation follows a series of protests, detentions and legal proceedings concerning the Election Commission, with the opposition seeking to sustain pressure on the Centre and the poll panel over its handling of the electoral process.

JAMMU — The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has ruled that government jobs cannot be promised or granted in exchange for land donated for public projects, while upholding the separate entitlement of eligible long-serving casual workers to regular engagement under the applicable rules.

A Division Bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and M.A. Chowdhary passed the ruling while deciding a challenge filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Government and three others against an order issued by the Jammu Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on February 3.

The dispute arose after landowners donated approximately one kanal each in 2014 for the construction of tubewells. Their gift deeds reportedly stipulated government employment in return for the land, but they were subsequently engaged as casual workers in the Irrigation and Flood Control Department instead of receiving permanent appointments.

The workers approached the court in 2019 seeking regularisation of their services. The tribunal later directed their regularisation against available posts, prompting the government to challenge the order before the High Court.

The High Court held that permanent government appointments must be made in accordance with recruitment rules and through a fair and transparent selection process consistent with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality before the law and equality of opportunity in public employment.

The Bench observed that the government had no authority to promise permanent employment in exchange for donated land, cautioning that such arrangements would effectively amount to putting government jobs up for sale.

It also disapproved of the practice of engaging daily-rated, casual or ad hoc workers without following a fair selection process and subsequently regularising their services through policy decisions.

However, the court distinguished between a claim to permanent employment in exchange for land and the entitlement to regular engagement under the Jammu and Kashmir Casual and Other Workers (Regular Engagement) Rules, 2017, notified through SRO 520 of 2017.

The Bench noted that the workers had completed more than 10 years of continuous service as casual labourers and were eligible for regular engagement under the applicable rules, subject to the prescribed conditions.

The court modified the tribunal’s operative directions rather than setting aside the relief altogether. It directed the authorities to take up the eligible workers’ cases immediately and extend the benefit of regular engagement from the date each worker completed 10 years of continuous service.

The Bench also recognised their entitlement to related benefits in accordance with the applicable rules.

The ruling reinforces the principle that public employment must follow established recruitment procedures and cannot be exchanged for private property, while preserving the separate rights of eligible long-serving casual workers under the statutory framework.

REASI — A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel deployed at Salal Power Station in Jyotipuram area of Reasi district reportedly died after sustaining a gunshot injury from his service rifle on Friday.

The personnel was identified as Mushtaq Ahmad, son of Muhammad Din, a resident of Maadi in Reasi district.

According to local sources, Ahmad sustained the injury while deployed at the power station and was shifted to a hospital for treatment, where he was declared dead.

An investigation has been initiated to establish the circumstances leading to the incident.

The reason behind the firing has not been ascertained so far.