Authority: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar

Order Date: 25 September 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioner, a Stipendiary Senior Resident (Anesthesia) at SKIMS, filed a writ petition under Article 226 seeking (i) payment of pending salary for eleven months, (ii) issuance of an experience certificate, and (iii) refund of a Rs 55,000 security deposit.
  • Engagement was effected by Government Order No. SIMS/ACAD/538 of 2023 dated 31 September 2023 for one year; only one month’s salary of Rs 1,27,772 was paid on 04 April 2024.
  • Respondents cancelled the engagement ab initio on 17 July 2025 (Order No. SIMS/ACAD/35) after receiving an adverse CID report, a condition the petitioner had expressly accepted in an affidavit.
  • Respondents argued the conditional appointment barred any claim to salary, certificate, or deposit; they also contested the existence of the security deposit.

Court Reasoning

  • The Court held that the engagement was conditional and could not be enforced contrary to its terms, citing Supreme Court precedents (Kerala State Electricity Board v. Kurien E. Kalathil (2000) 6 SCC 293; State of U.P. v. Neeraj Awasthi (2006) 1 SCC 667).
  • However, the cancellation does not extinguish the right to wages for services actually rendered; withholding salary would violate Article 23 of the Constitution.
  • The Court relied on a coordinate Bench decision in WP(C) No. 2769/2025 with identical facts to support payment of earned wages.
  • Regarding the experience certificate, the Court noted that while a certificate confirming the cancelled appointment cannot be issued, a factual certificate recording the period of actual service may be provided.
  • The claim for the Rs 55,000 security deposit was left unpursued by the petitioner due to lack of documentary proof.

Order

  • Respondents must release the unpaid salary for the period the petitioner actually worked, within eight weeks of service of this order, with simple interest at 6 % per annum calculated from 15 April 2026.
  • Respondents shall also issue a factual certificate documenting the petitioner’s period of service, without extending it beyond the cancellation order dated 17 July 2025.
  • No direction was given on the security deposit.

Final Outcome

The petition is partially allowed: the petitioner will receive the earned but unpaid salary with interest and a factual service certificate; the security deposit claim remains unresolved.

Topics: Employment Law, Public Sector Employment