Srinagar, Jun 04 KDC: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has directed the government to temporarily reserve one post of Junior Engineer (Electrical) within the Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) cadre.
The ad-interim direction was passed after an aggrieved candidate flagged a significant shortfall in the allocation of selection slots designated for military veterans under the horizontal reservation rules.
The order was issued by a single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar during the hearing of a writ petition filed by Gulzar Ahmad Wani.
Represented by Advocate Ishtiyaq Ah Mir, the petitioner approached the court to contest the final selection list issued by the Jammu & Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) for 292 posts of Junior Engineer (Electrical), which were originally advertised under Notification No. 02 of 2025.
Detailing the core grievance of the petitioner, Justice Sanjay Dhar observed in his formal order that “as per Reservation Rules, the respondents are obliged to earmark 8 posts out of 129 posts of Junior Engineer (Electrical) advertised vide Advertisement Notice dated 27.02.2025 for the category of Ex-Servicemen”.
However, upon evaluating the subsequent recruitment outcomes published on April 27, 2026, the petitioner discovered that the statutory quota had not been fulfilled.
Highlighting this deficiency in the selection process, Justice Dhar noted in the court order that “while making the final selection, the respondents have selected only 4 candidates from amongst the aforesaid category.”
Finding sufficient grounds for immediate intervention to prevent the filling of all advertised slots before the legal dispute is settled, the High Court directed that the government must protect a vacancy out of the general allocation pool. Justice Dhar explicitly ordered that “in the meantime, till next date of hearing before the Bench and subject to objections from other side, the respondents shall reserve one post of Junior Engineer (Electrical) from Open Merit Category out of 129 posts advertised for Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited.”
The court has also issued formal notices to the respondents, requiring them to submit their objections, subject to the petitioner completing the necessary procedural steps within one week. The case has now been scheduled for a detailed combined hearing later this summer, with the judge ordering that the matter “be listed on 09.09.2026 along with WP (C) 1017/2026.” (KDC)
