Naib Tehsildar Recruitment
WAJAHAT SHABIR
JAMMU: In a significant development, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu Bench, has stayed the controversial provision in the Jammu and Kashmir Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 2009, which mandated knowledge of Urdu as a prerequisite for the post of Naib Tehsildar.
This ruling comes amidst growing protests in Jammu over what many candidates called a “discriminatory” policy that sidelined speakers of other official languages.
The Tribunal passed the interim order on Monday while hearing Original Application No. 975/2025, filed collectively by several aggrieved aspirants. Represented by senior advocate Abhinav Sharma, the applicants challenged Advertisement Notification No. 05 of 2025, issued on June 9, which restricted eligibility to only those candidates who knew Urdu — despite the fact that the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020, recognizes four other official languages: Hindi, Kashmiri, English, and Dogri.
The petitioners argued that such a narrow linguistic criterion was unconstitutional and violated the principle of equality. “Candidates proficient in Hindi, Dogri, or Kashmiri — languages officially recognized by the UT government — are being unfairly excluded. This goes against the idea of inclusive governance,” said advocate Abhirash Sharma, appearing for the petitioners.
Acknowledging the merit of the plea, the Tribunal observed that the Urdu-only clause “prima facie appears to be discriminatory” and stayed its operation. It directed the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Recruitment Board (SSRB) to accept applications from candidates proficient in any of the five official languages listed under the 2020 Act.
The court has also sought a response from the General Administrative Department (GAD) within four weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on August 13.
The ruling has energised protestors who have been staging demonstrations in Jammu for the last several weeks, demanding justice for thousands of eligible candidates who were being disqualified simply due to a lack of Urdu knowledge. Social media campaigns had also been trending since early July, with hashtags like #JusticeForNaibTehsildarAspirants and #LanguageBiasInRecruitment gaining traction.
