Supreme Court Upholds Haryana's 2014 Regularisation Policies for Group 'B', 'C', and 'D' Employees, Notifications dated 16.06.2014 and 18.06.2014 for regularisation deemed valid, while 07.07.2014 notifications struck down as arbitrary and illegal.
The Supreme Court of India has delivered a significant judgment regarding the regularisation of services for ad hoc employees in Haryana. In a decision that partially modifies the Punjab and Haryana High Court's ruling from 2018, the apex court upheld the validity of the Haryana State Government's notifications dated 16.06.2014 and 18.06.2014, which aimed to regularise the services of Group 'B', 'C', and 'D' employees. These notifications were initially challenged for allegedly violating the principles established in the landmark Umadevi judgment regarding regularisation of ad hoc employees.
The bench, comprising Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Atul S. Chandurkar, concluded that the 2014 notifications were in line with constitutional provisions, as they intended to regularise employees who were left out of the earlier 1996 policy. The criteria for regularisation included working on sanctioned posts, possessing requisite qualifications, and adhering to the reservation policy, ensuring alignment with the principles of fairness and transparency.
Conversely, the court struck down the notifications dated 07.07.2014, deeming them arbitrary and illegal. These notifications sought to regularise employees without advertisement and interview, a practice the court found undermined fairness and transparency in recruitment. The future cut-off date of 31.12.2018, used as a basis for regularisation, was considered unjustifiable.
Despite the ruling against the 07.07.2014 notifications, the court, exercising its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, allowed the continuation of ad hoc employees affected by these notifications in their current roles, albeit at the lowest pay scale applicable to their posts. This decision acknowledges the employees' experience and the time elapsed since their initial appointments.
The judgment reflects the court's commitment to ensuring a balance between providing relief to long-serving ad hoc employees and maintaining the sanctity of the constitutional principles governing public employment.
Bottom Line:
Notifications dated 16.06.2014 and 18.06.2014 issued by the State of Haryana seeking regularisation of services of Group 'B', 'C', and 'D' employees are valid, whereas Notifications dated 07.07.2014 seeking regularisation without advertisement and interview are arbitrary and illegal.
Statutory provision(s): Articles 14, 16, and 142 of the Constitution of India.
Madan Singh v. State of Haryana, (SC) : Law Finder Doc id # 2884394
