IMPORTANT POINT
Termination of an employee without adherence to established guidelines and principles of natural justice is illegal and arbitrary.

ORDER :

(K. Manmadha Rao, J.) :

This writ petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the following relief:

“……. to issue a writ order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus declaring the impugned action of the 5th respondent in straight away terminating the petitioner on the ground of mere registration of criminal case and further action in not reinstating the petitioner in spite of acquittal of petitioner through Lok Adalat award dt 30.01.2021 and in spite of representation dated 19.06.2021 made by the petitioner and also declaring the action of respondents No.2 to 4 in not taking any action against 5th respondent through the 5th respondent acted in contravention of the orders issued by the Government in Circular Memo ROC.No.57/APSLSA/LSW/2020, dated 15.09.2020 as highly illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents to reinstate the petitioner into service with all consequential benefits in the interest of Justice and pass ….”

2. The grievance of the petitioner is that initially he joined in the month of August, 2002 as Security Guard in 5th respondent Agriculture Market Committee on outsourcing basis. While so, with a laudable object of providing security and certainty of employment to all the employees, working on outsourcing basis, the 1st respondent Government have taken policy decision for establishing a Corporation called Andhra Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services (for short “APCOS) vide G.O.Ms.No.126 dated 18.10.2019 and G.O.Ms.No.136 dated 04.11.2019 for recruitment of persons on outsourcing or contract basis. In pursuance of the same, the Government have issued Policy Guidelines vide Circular Memo No.GADO1- SUOMISC/31/2019-SU-I, dated 20.11.2019 constituting Committees for District Level and State Level. Further, as per the above guidelines, all the outsourcing employees who are currently engaged shall be migrated to APCOS and that will act as placement agency. The Government further directed that, no employee who is engaged in outsourcing currently shall be removed and for carrying out the said purpose, the 2nd respondent directed all the Joint Directors to collect the particulars of employees working in each Agriculture Market Committee on outsourcing basis. In pursuance of the same, the case of the petitioner was also forwarded to the 4th respondent corporation and he has been enrolled vide ID No.110517504 on the rolls of 4th respondent. While the matter stood thus, the petitioner was falsely implicated in a Criminal Case, out of an exchange of words with a neighbour, who laid a complaint under Sections 341, 323 r/w 506 IPC which was registered as CC.No.33/2021 on the file of JFCM Court, Tadipatri. Thereafter, the same was referred to Legal Service Authority in Lr.No.57/APSLSA/LSW/2020, dated 15.09.2020 and in the said Lok Adalat, the said crime was compounded and the petitioner was acquitted vide Award dated 30.01.2021. In the meanwhile, only on the ground of registration of criminal case against the petitioner, the 5th respondent straight away orally terminated the petitioner from service on 06.07.2020. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner made a representation to the 5th respondent for continuing the petitioner in service by reinstating him as Security Guard. But till date, no action has been taken. Hence, the present writ petition.

3. Counter affidavit has been filed by the respondent No.5. While denying all the allegations made in the petition inter alia contended that the services of the petitioner to work as security guard on outsourcing system were terminated only after receipt of the complaint from one R. Indra Sena Reddy, local trader of the Market Yard, Tadipatri to whom protection and services are to be provided by the Agricultural Market Committee, Tadipatri and also basing on the criminal case lodged against the petitioner in case No.33 of 2021 of Town Police Stat