IMPORTANT POINTS
Ad hoc appointment till regular appointment does not confer any right at par with appointees on regular basis.
Decision to arrive at unsatisfactory work held motive and not foundation of termination of services. Comments relating to work cannot be made basis for setting aside the termination of an adhoc employee.

JUDGMENT :

HEMANT GUPTA, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. Challenge in the present appeal is to an order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench, whereby an order passed by the learned Single Bench on November 3, 2009 was set aside.

3. Respondent No. 1 was appointed as Lecturer of Home Economics on ad-hoc basis till such full time Lecturer is appointed, vide appointment letter dated February 24, 1999. There was also a condition in the appointment order that if her performance is found to be unsatisfactory, services can be terminated without giving any notice. The relevant clauses of the appointment order read as under:

“1. With reference to your application, this is to inform you that you are appointed as a purely temporary full time lecturer in the subject Home Economics in Rajiv Gandhi Mahavidyalaya, Sadak Arjuni, on ad hoc basis.

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5. In case your performance is found to be unsatisfactory, your services shall be terminated at any time during the temporary services without any notice.”

4. The services of respondent No. 1 were terminated on February 20, 2001, inter alia, for the reason that her services in the academic year 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 were found to be unsatisfactory. Therefore, as per terms and conditions mentioned in the order of appointment, the services of respondent No. 1 were terminated and salary for one month was paid to her.

5. The respondent No1, aggrieved against the termination order, filed an appeal before the College Tribunal under Section 59 of the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994. The said appeal was dismissed by the Presiding Officer of the College Tribunal.

6. Again, aggrieved against the said order passed by the Presiding Officer, Respondent No. 1 invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench. The writ petition was dismissed by the learned Single Bench of the High Court. However, the intra-court appeal was allowed vide order impugned in the present appeal.

7. The Division Bench of the High Court found that the order of termination is not innocuous or harmless without casting stigma on respondent No. 1. The Management Committee took the decision of termination of services of respondent No. 1 prior to the completion of period of probation. Such finding was arrived at for the reason that the report of the Principal casts stigma which is the basis of the order of termination.

8. The Division Bench relied upon the service conditions of teachers which are governed by Statute 53 of the University which contemplates that a Teacher shall be appointed in a clear vacancy in the first instance on probation for two years from the date of appointment. Therefore, in the absence of confirmation or notice of termination, satisfactory completion of probation is presumed.

9. We find that the Division Bench has travelled much beyond the controversy involved in the writ petition. The appointment of respondent No. 1 is categorically on ad-hoc basis till such time full time Lecturer is appointed. The order of termination of services is simpliciter without any stigma noticing that the work is not satisfactory. The appointment of respondent No. 1 was not on probation but, it was purely ad-hoc appointment and the Management has kept right to terminate the services during ad-hoc period on account of unsatisfactory work.

10. Learned counsel for the appellants referred to the judgment in Radhey Shyam Gupta v. U.P. State Agro Industries Corporation Ltd. & Anr., (1999) 2 SCC 21, wherein, it was held as under:

“33. It will be noticed from the above decisions that the termination of the services of a temporary servant or one on probation, on the basis of adverse entries or on the basis of an assessment that his work is not satisfactory will not be punitive inasmuch as the above facts are merely the motive and not the foundation. The reason why they are the motive is that the assessment is not done with the object of finding out any misconduct on the part of the of