Back
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Prathiba M. Singh, J.
Delhi Parshashan Vikas Vibhag Industrial Employees Union - Appellant
Versus
Department of Social Welfare - Respondent
W.P.(C) 8498 of 2021 & CM Appls. 26334-35 of 2021, W.P.(C) 8561 of 2021 & CM Appls. 26472-73 of 2021, W.P.(C) 7616 of 2021 & CM Appl. 23833 of 2021, W.P.(C) 7788 of 2021 & CM Appls. 24277-78 of 2021, W.P.(C) 7843 of 2021 & CM Appls. 24391-92 of 2021, W.P.
Decided On : 25-08-2021
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. details of deo employment status (Para 2 , 3 , 4 , 5) |
| 2. petitioners seek service condition stability (Para 6 , 7) |
| 3. arguments presented by petitioners (Para 8 , 10) |
| 4. court's reasoning on deo contracts (Para 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15) |
| 5. directions for contract retention (Para 16) |
| 6. final order and disposition of petitions (Para 17 , 18) |
JUDGMENT
Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)--This hearing has been done through video conferencing.
2. These are writ petitions, which have been filed by Data Entry Operators (hereinafter "DEOs") engaged in various Departments forming part of the GNCTD, Delhi such as the Chief Electoral Officer, GNCTD; Department of Social Welfare, GNCTD; Department of Training and Technical Education, GNCTD etc.
3. The case of these DEOs is that they have been working in their respective Departments for several years and they were engaged through two different agencies, namely, NIELT and ICSIL in the various writ petitions. The services of these DEOs were extended from time to time for a period of one year. The last such extension, which is granted in each of the cases, is different. However, most extensions were ending sometime in May/June 2021
4. The brief background is that the Petitioners, in all these Petitions, were employed in their respective Departments on a contractual basis, through agencies, namely Intelligent Communication Systems India Limited (hereinafter, "ICSIL") and National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (hereinafter, "NIELIT"), who have been impleaded in the respective writ petitions. The details of the same, in respect of each of the present petitions are captured below:
| Writ Petition No. | Government Department | Agency | Date of termination of contract | Currently continuing or discontinued |
| WP(C) 8498/2021 | Department of Social Welfare, GNCTD | ICSIL | 4th December 2020, or till regular incumbents are posted | Continuing |
| WP(C) 8561/2021 | Chief Electoral Officer | NIELIT | 31st July 2021 | Discontinued however re- engaged due to an interim order by the High Court |
| WP(C) 7616/2021 | Chief Electoral Officer | NIELIT | 31st July 2021 | Discontinued, however re- engaged due to an interim order by the High Court |
| WP(C) 7788/2021 | Department of Social Welfare, GNCTD | ICSIL | 4th December 2020, or till regular incumbents are posted | Continuing |
| WP(C) 7843/2021 | Chief Electoral Officer | NIELIT | 31st July 2021 | Discontinued, however re- engaged due to an interim order by the High Court |
| WP(C) 7847/2021 | Department of Social Welfare, GNCTD | NIELIT | 1st April 2022 or till regular incumbents are posted | Continuing |
| WP(C) 8068/2021 | Department of Training and Technical, GNCTD | NIELIT | 27th November 2021 or till regular incumbents are posted | Continuing |
| WP(C) 8903/2021 | Chief Electoral Officer | NIELIT | 31st July 2021 | Discontinued, however re- engaged due to an interim order by the High Court. |
| WP(C) 8951/2021 | District Magistrate, Central, GNCTD | NIELIT | Expired on 30th June 2021 although extended from July 2021, till the GeM hiring is completed | Continuing |
5. The contracts qua each of the Petitioners/DEOs were extended from time to time by the Respondents. The Respondents then decided to issue fresh NITs to procure the services of DEOs, on the Government -e- Market (hereinafter, "GeM") portal, due to the operation of the General Financial Rules, 2017 (hereinafter, "GFR, 2017), which under Rule 149, makes it mandatory to procure goods and services from the said portal. Owing to the same, the Petitioners in all these petitions apprehended their termination from contractual service.
6. Due to the said apprehension, the Petitioner- DEOs approached the appropriate labour Authority under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred as "the ID Act") and sought regularization under the provisions of the ID Act. Section 33 of the ID Act, which provides that conditions of service etc. have to remain unchanged under certain circumstances, during pendency of proceedings, was also pressed by the DEOs. The Assistant Labour Commissioner (hereinafter, "ALC"), vide orders pa
Contractual employees lack permanent rights without regularization; existing employees must be retained under new contracts due to legal mandates.
Outsourced employees discharging duties for the Government are entitled to the benefit of contractual appointment as per the resolution dated 17.09.2013, despite being paid through outsourcing agenci....
Outsourced employees discharging duties and responsibilities for the government, of the government, and by the government are entitled to the benefits of contractual appointment and regularization as....
The State's arbitrary rejection of a long-term temporary employee's regularization claim violates constitutional rights and obligations, emphasizing the need for fair employment practices under Artic....
The court emphasized that long uninterrupted service in governmental roles, despite initial irregular appointments, warrants consideration for regularization in accordance with established legal prec....
The main legal point established in the judgment is the entitlement of contract workers to seek regularization of their services based on positive recommendations and lack of evidence to prove allege....
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
