IMPORTANT POINT
The words “regular” or “regularization” do not connote permanence and cannot be construed so as to convey an idea of the nature of tenure of appointments and are meant to cure only such defects as are attributable to methodology followed in making the appointments. Only by working for more than 240 days, a person does not derive any legal right to be regularized in service.

JUDGMENT

G. P. MATHUR, J. —

1.Leave granted.

2.These appeals, by special leave, have been preferred against the judgment and order dated 7.3.2005 of Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench), by which the special appeals preferred by the appellant herein were dismissed and the judgment and order dated 31.8.1999 passed by a learned Single Judge by which two writ petitions were disposed of was affirmed.

3.Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Muster Roll Trade Union Congress, Korwa, Sultanpur, filed Writ Petition No.10513 of 1990 against the appellant Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Korwa Division, Sultanpur (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Company’) & Ors., wherein the main relief claimed was as under :-

“Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the opposite parties to regularize the services of the members of the petitioner union fully described in Annexure No.1 and place them in the pay scale of the post of Mali and allow them and treat them as continuing in service with all benefits without any break.”

“It was averred in the writ petition that the petitioner union is a registered trade union under the provisions of the Trade Unions Act, 1926 with the Registrar, Trade Unions U.P., Kanpur, of daily rated Malies i.e. Muster Roll employees (workmen within the meaning of the Industrial Disputes Act) working in the establishment of the appellant herein. The petitioner union was seeking regularization of services of its members and their continuance in service without any break as well as equal pay for equal work. The members of the petitioner union whose names figure at serial nos.1 to 77 in Annexure 1, are land losers as their land was acquired for establishment of appellant and the remaining persons are non land losers. The members of the petitioner union were continuing as daily rated Malies for the last about 5 to 7 years with 2-3 days break on 2 or 3 occasions in each month although the work and post continue to be available. There was a policy of the State Government to provide employment to at least one member of the family whose land had been acquired and several Government orders had been issued in this regard. The daily rated Malies were getting much less amount as wages than those Malies who were in a regular scale of pay though there was no difference in work. In spite of work and posts being available, artificial break in service was created with a view to deprive them of their continuity in service. The members of the petitioner union had put in more than 240 days of continuous service in each calendar year, yet their services had not been regularized. They were entitled to not only regularization of their services but also the pay scale of the post of Mali as there was no difference in the nature of work and duties being performed by them from those who were in the regular pay scale”.

4.The appellant herein filed a counter affidavit on the ground, inter alia, that the list of members contained in Annexure 1 to the writ petition was not within the knowledge of the appellant company. The writ petitioners were being engaged as casual labourers in the appellant Company as per the settlement arrived at on 6.3.1989 between the writ petitioners and the management of the Company with the intervention of Deputy Labour Commissioner, Faizabad. It was further averred that after acquisition of land by the State Government for the purpose of setting up of Korwa Division of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., factory premises were established in 1983. Since a new area had to be developed and the work had to be started from scratch, initially a large number of workmen including Malies were engaged for horticulture and land scape development work. However, at the present juncture, the horticulture work was limited for maintenance of land and garden and thus the requirement of the labourers for this work had considerably decreased and there was no continuous and full time work. The land losers whos