Pradeep Nandrajog, J. (Oral)

1. The record of this court would reveal that in the last 3 years it has decided at least 75 writ petitions concerning employees working under the Government of NCT of Delhi, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi and now the three trifurcated Corporations as also the New Delhi Municipal Council on contract basis. The number of employees who were either writ petitioners or were respondents, depending upon whether their claims were disallowed or allowed by the Tribunal exceed the figure of 2000. These contract appointed employees were working in different departments and against various posts such as Craft Instructors teaching in ITIs; Para-medics of various categories such as Nursing Attendant, Laboratory Attendants, Laboratory Technicians, Radiographers etc. and Junior Doctors. The issue pertained to entitlement for wages and other benefits. Whereas in some decisions the view taken by the Tribunal was that being appointed pursuant to a contract the contractual employees were bound by the letter offering wages as per the offer of appointment which was accepted and the view taken in some decisions by the Tribunal was that these employees appointed on contract would be entitled to full wages and other benefits as were extended to regular employees. For the latter view, the reasoning of the Tribunal was that a fraud was being played by resorting to contract appointment pending regular appointments and the contractual employment was extended from year to year and lasted for more than a decade.

2. The consistent view taken by this Court was that the contract appointed employees could not be equated with regular employees. Depending upon the pleadings and the office orders which were shown, different Division Benches directed emoluments to be paid and benefits extended; and we highlight that no decision passed by any Division Bench conflicts with another. Depending upon what orders passed by the Departments were shown to the Court, appropriate directions were issued.

3. The writ petitioners herein are para-medics working as Nursing Attendants, O.T.Technicians, Laboratory Assistants, E.C.G.Technicians and Junior Radiographer in different hospitals established by the Government of NCT of Delhi. All of them render services as contractual employees and have continued to serve in said capacity for over a decade and a half.

4. They have a two-fold grievance against the impugned order dated September 27, 2002 passed by the Tribunal which is challenged in W.P.(C) No.6798/2002 and the order dated November 14, 2003 which is challenged in W.P.(C) No.8093-8102/2003.

5. Order dated November 27, 2002 would reveal that as regards claim for payments, the Tribunal directed a proper application to be filed. And as regards the claim for being extended the benefit of age relaxation when regular employment was resorted to, the Tribunal said that no such direction could be issued. The order dated November 14, 2003 would reveal that the Tribunal was not shown any document that the applicants before it in OA No.2004/2003 had sought benefit of age relaxation.

6. The grievance projected today before us is two-fold. Firstly that the petitioners are not being extended the benefit of the law declared by a Division Bench of this Court on May 22, 2009 in W.P.(C) No.8476/2009 Government of NCT of Delhi Vs. Victoria Massey as also the law laid down by this Court in its decision March 20, 2013 in W.P.(C) No.4641/2012 Government of NCT of Delhi & Anr. Vs. Suman Singh.

7. As we have noted above, a large number of Staff Nurses/para-medics working under the Government of N.C.T. of Delhi as also the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had filed Original Applications in which different view were taken by different Benches of the Tribunal requiring a few Original Applications to be referred to a Full Bench of the Tribunal, one of which was OA No.1330/2007 Ms.Victoria Massey & Ors. Vs. Government of NCT of Delhi.

8. On July 23,