JUDGMENT

Jyoti Singh, J. By this writ petition, Petitioner seeks a writ of certiorari quashing the impugned order dated 25.07.2019 whereby services of the Petitioner, while working on temporary basis as Research Associate with the Respondents/Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as `ICAR-IASRI') were terminated.

2. Narrative of facts captured in the writ petition is that Petitioner having a Ph.D. degree in Bioinformatics was appointed as Research Associate in ICAR-IASRI in a project called `Consortium Research Platform on Genomics' for the period ending 31.03.2017. The appointment was on a contractual basis for the said period or termination of the project, whichever was earlier. Appointment letter dated 29.10.2016 was issued to the Petitioner which stipulated the terms and conditions of service including nature of admissible leaves which included casual leave, restricted holidays as per Government of India/ICAR Rules as applicable from time to time, maternity leave and compensatory leave in lieu of duty performed on holidays.

3. Clause 8 of the appointment letter permitted the Respondents to terminate the Research Associateship, with or without notice, at any time, if the Research Associate was found to be negligent in his or her work or in case of unbecoming conduct. Petitioner avers that she was sincerely and diligently performing her duties which is evident from communications of the Respondents between January, 2019 to June, 2019 and for two and a half years that she worked with the Respondents, she shouldered several important responsibilities and published five research papers in reputed International journals. On account of her good performance in the project, she was granted third extension from 01.04.2019 to 31.03.2020.

4. According to the Petitioner, the problem started when she applied for leave on 13.06.2019 on account of back ache and weakness by an email addressed to Project Co-in-charge. Since Petitioner was not recovering, she repeated her request by email dated 15.06.2019. On 19.06.2019, Petitioner informed the concerned officers through an email communication that medical tests confirmed her pregnancy and on account of bed rest advised by the doctor, she would need leave for two weeks. Petitioner kept the Respondents updated on her medical condition and the tests she was undergoing and finally vide email dated 15.07.2019 she expressed her willingness to join back. On joining back on 22.07.2019, Petitioner submitted all her medical reports to the Project in-charge Dr. Anil Rai/Respondent No. 2 indicating her visits, case history and doctor's prescription at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

5. Respondents terminated the services of the Petitioner by the impugned order dated 25.07.2019 on three grounds viz. absence without information, not performing duties consistently and obstruction in the work of the institution. On 29.07.2019, Petitioner made a representation to the Director apprising him of her medical condition and the fact that she had kept the institution informed of the same. Request was made to review her case of termination as the same was during the period of pregnancy. However, the termination order was not recalled and the representation was rejected by a letter dated 26.08.2019. The pending salary bills for the months of June and July, 2019 were also not cleared, compelling the Petitioner to approach this Court.

6. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submitted that Petitioner is a meritorious student with Ph.D. degree in Bioinformatics and had secured 16th All India Rank in DBT-BINC Exami