An employer cannot repeatedly appoint an employee on short-term contracts and replace them with another temporary employee after each contract ends to avoid absorbing them into regular service.

( 1 ) THE petitioner seeks a dec laration from this Court to the effect that the respondents conduct in preventing the petitioner from discharging his duties as peon in the office of the 2nd respondent is illegal and void.

( 2 ) THE respondents do not dispute the fact that the petitioner was appointed on temporary basis initially for the period from 19-9-94 to 12-10-94. His temporary services were extended for 56 days from 13-10-94 to 7-12-94, and for a further period of 30 days from 8-12-94 to 16-1-95. The petitioner in all worked foraperiodof 120 days. No termination order was issued because the letter of appointment itself specified the period for which the appointment was made.

( 3 ) FURTHER according to the respondents, 112 vacancies of peon, including the vacancies reserved for SC/st were likely to arise, for which the minimum educational qualification was a pass in the 9th standard with a minimum of 35% marks in each subject. Employment notice in this regard was published in Eenadu, Rajahmundry division, and that it was clarified in the said notice that candidates who were appointed on or before June, 1993 and worked in temporary capacity for a period of 85 days in a financial year would be allowed to compete in the recruitment test, provided they satisfied the eligibility conditions, including the relaxation of upper age limit; but the petitioner did not apply in response to the said employment notice and did not compete with other candidates. Therefore, according to the respondents, merely on the basis of temporary service for a short period of 120 days, the petitioner could not legally agitate any claim to hold on to the post permanently.

( 4 ) THE services of temporary staff are regulated by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Regulations, 1960. It is true that under sub-regulation (2) of Regulation 8 no person appointed under sub-regulation (1) is entitled to absorption in the services of the corporation or claim preference for recruitment to any post only by reason of such appointment. Under sub-regulation (1) of Regulation 8 the authorities named therein are empowered to employ staff in class III and IV on temporary basis subject to such genera! or special directions as may be issued by the Chairman from time to time.

( 5 ) ON the basis of the above regulations, the learned counsel for the respondent submitted that in spite of the fact that the petitioner had put in 120 days of service on temporary basis intermittently, he had not acquired any right of absorption in the service of the respondent-Corporation, by virtue of sub-regulation (2) of Regulation 8 referred to above. Further according to the respondents it was incumbent upon the petitioner to make application for empanelment for appointment in the cadre of sub-staff (Peon) in the services of the corporation under the jurisdiction of rajahmundry Division in response to the employment notice published on 6-2-95 for that purpose. The last date for receipt of applications was 20-2-95. However, the petitioner did not make any application for empanelment. The learned counsel for the respondent-Corporation further submitted that it was made clear in the employment notice that candidates who have been appointed on or before June, 1993 and worked in temporary capacity for a period of 85 days in a financial year would be allowed to compete in the recruitment test, provided they satisfied the eligibility conditions, which in the instant case according to the learned counsel was relaxation of upper age limit. By not making any application the petitioner did not offer himself to compete in the recruitment test, and therefore, he had no right of being considered for appointment. It is pertinent to note that in para 9 of the counter filed by the respondents it is stated that:"it is not known to the respondent whether the petitioner submitted any application in response to the employment notice or not. "

( 6 ) MERELY on the basis of temporary se