The termination of contractual employees is valid if in accordance with their contract terms, and does not necessitate adherence to public employment principles when the employer is a private entity.

ORDER :

Amitendra Kishore Prasad

1. The present writ petition is being filed seeking following reliefs:-

“10.1 That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to admit the Writ Petition; issue Rule NISI calling upon the Respondent/ Authorities to show cause as to why the prayers of the Petitioners shall not be allowed and if the Respondents fail to show cause, or show insufficient cause thereof, the said Rule be made absolute in the interest of justice. That, the Hon'ble Court may be pleased to quash the impugned orders of termination /removal from service as vide Annexure-3 (Colly.) by issuing a Writ in the nature of Certiorari.

10.2 That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to command the Respondents/Authorities to reinstatement the Petitioners against their posts which are perennial in nature and they may further be directed to allow these Petitioners to continue further as before till the Company survives or in the alternative, without leave of this Hon'ble Court and also be granted with all consequential service benefits. etc., in the interest of justice.

10.3 Any other relief which this Hon'ble Court may deem and proper in the present circumstances of the case”

2. The facts of the case, in brief, are that the petitioners were duly selected in the year 2008 by a duly constituted Selection Committee of the Management of Utility Powertech Limited (UPL), a Joint Venture Company of NTPC Limited and Reliance Infrastructure Limited having equal shareholding, and were issued letters of appointment against substantive posts, whereafter they have continuously rendered satisfactory services without any adverse remark in their service records; Petitioner No.1 was initially appointed as Supervisor (Civil) on 28.04.2008 and is presently working as Assistant Engineer (Civil), while petitioner No.2 was appointed as Junior Engineer on 02.02.2008 and is presently working as Junior Engineer (Grade-I), and their recent engagements were for the periods 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2024 and 01.07.2023 to 31.12.2023 respectively at the UPL project site, Korba. The petitioners were given to understand that UPL, being a sister concern of NTPC Limited and managed substantially by NTPC personnel, would continue to retain employees recruited on merit and qualifications so long as the Joint Venture and its principal partner subsisted, and accordingly, though termed contractual and tenure-based, their engagements were renewed year after year due to continued requirement of work, availability of substantive workload and satisfactory performance, with parity in duties and responsibilities with regular employees of NTPC projects; however, while their tenure engagements were subsisting and without any closure of projects or reduction of manpower, the Deputy Manager (HR) of respondent No.2- Company issued communications dated around 31.08.2023 abruptly terminating their engagements with effect from 30.09.2023, citing vague reasons stated to be beyond the control of the Company and treating the said communication as one month’s notice, despite the fact that the appointing authority was of a much higher rank, namely the General Manager, rendering the termination orders without jurisdiction. The petitioners contend that such termination is arbitrary, illegal and discriminatory, particularly when similarly placed and even junior employees have been retained, in violation of settled principles of “last come first go” and Articles 14 and 16(1) of the Constitution of India, and that the respondents h