The judgment establishes that illegal appointments void ab-initio made contrary to the mandate of Article 14 cannot be regularized under any circumstances.

1. This writ application has been filed on behalf of three petitioners seeking a direction from this Court to the respondents to regularize their services, taking into account their long continuation in service as daily wager by giving effect to the Circular issued by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, Government of Bihar, Patna vide letter No. 5940 dated 18.6.1993 (Annexure-2). As per the petitioners, the said circular needs to be applied in their cases which lays down the guideline for regularization of those daily wage employees who were appointed prior to 1.8.1985 and were still working. Petitioners have also sought for a direction for grant of equal pay for equal work as also lowest time scale of pay from the very date of their engagement which according to them, have been granted to similarly situated persons pursuant to order passed by this Court in CWJC No. 10984 of 1993 (Minor Irrigation Employees Association, Godda and others Vs. The State of Bihar and others) dated 13.2.1996.

2. The case of the petitioners is that they were initially appointed as daily wages Correspondence Clerk/Pump Operator in the year 1981/1982 under the control of Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Katihar and since then they have been working on the said post continuously. They have and they had the requisite qualification for the post against which they were appointed as daily wage Correspondence Clerk/Pump Operator and are being paid their wages regularly for the same.

3. Petitioners have brought on record the circular as contained in letter No. 5940 dated 18.6.1993 issued by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, Government of Bihar, Patna which laid down certain guidelines with respect to daily wage employees. The said circular provided, inter alia, that the persons appointed on daily wage basis after 1.8.1985 were required to be considered in accordance with law settled for regular appointment. A copy of the said circular dated 18.6.1993 has been annexed as Annexure-2 to the writ application. It has been pleaded in the writ application that the said circular was implemented and the persons appointed after the cut off date i.e. 1.8.1985 were sought to be retrenched. It has been pleaded in the writ application that a provisional State Level seniority list of the employees working in Minor Irrigation Department, Government of Bihar, Patna was prepared pursuant to the issuance of the circular dated 18.6.1993 containing names of Typists/Correspondence Clerks which was published in 1994. In the said list the names of petitioner Nos. 1 and 2 figured at serial nos. 3 and 4. Similar provisional seniority list of Pump Operator/Mechanic was also prepared under letter dated 21.4.1995 but in the said letter the name of petitioner No.3 was left out in spite of the recommendation made by the Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Katihar. It has been averred as regards petitioner no.3 that the Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Katihar under his letter No. 278 dated 27.6.1995 informed the Minor Irrigation Department to include the name of petitioner no.3 in the provisional seniority list on the basis of the list supplied earlier under letter No. 752 dated 12.10.1993 as in the said list the name of petitioner no. 3 was at serial no.33. It has been pleaded that till date petitioner no.3 had no knowledge whether his name was included in the seniority list or not. It has also been stated in the writ application that the petitioners are still in service and are getting only wages not scale.

4. Petitioners have stated that there are 42 sanctioned posts of Typist/Correspondence Clerk lying vacant in the Minor Irrigation Department and also that there are several sanctioned posts of Pump Operator/Mechanic lying vacant in the Department but the respondents are not taking any steps for filling up those posts. On the basis of this statement petitioners claim that they are working on san