JUDGMENT

Dr. Mukundakam Sharma, J.—

1. By filing the present appeal, the appellants have challenged the legality and validity of the order dated 17.08.2005 passed by the Calcutta High Court whereby the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld the direction given by the Central Administrative Tribunal [for short ‘CAT’] to absorb the respondents in any suitable post commensurate with their qualifications.

2. The issue that is, therefore, canvassed before this Court by the appellants is whether such direction to absorb the respondents could have been issued by the CAT and the Calcutta High Court, particularly, in view of the fact that the respondents were engaged as Peons on casual basis without having been recruited through the proper procedure and having not been sponsored by the Employment Exchange and having worked with the appellant no. 2 only for two years, i.e., from 1981 to 1983.

3. The respondents herein, Shri K.C. Mondal and Shri S.K. Chakraborty, were engaged to work as casual labours in the office of the Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata without going through the regular process of recruitment of their names being sponsored by the Employment Exchange, which was the