Rajesh Babubhai Amin vs State Of Gujarat

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2023 Supreme(Guj) 946

IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
RAJENDRA M. SAREEN, J.
Rajesh Babubhai Amin – Appellant
Versus
State Of Gujarat & others – Respondent
R/Special Civil Application No. 8603 of 2012
Decided on : 12-07-2023

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : MR P C CHAUDHARI
For the Respondent: MR MANOHAR RAHEVAR

Headnote:
Constitution of India,1950 - Article 226 – Service Law - Post of Additional Assistant Engineer - Selection procedure - Pay scale – Held, Court in the aforesaid judgments, there is no reason available to Court to take a different view than aforesaid views taken by this Court, more particularly, when petitioner also has been appointed in the year after following procedure and by duly constituted Selection Committee - Said order was approved by State Government vide Government Resolution dated and it is only thereafter that appointment was effected - Respondent no.1, in consultation with concerned departments namely, Revenue Department and Urban Development & Urban Housing Department of the State Government, are directed to consider the case of the petitioner for regularization - Concerned authorities shall take decision in terms of this judgment within a period of four months from today - It is expected that the authorities will take positive decision, ensuring that there is no second round of litigation - Petition is partly allowed.

JUDGMENT :

1. By way of this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for the following main reliefs:

“7(A). YOUR LORDSHIP may be pleased to issue a writ of a Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order and/or direction, directing the respondents to regularize the services of the petitioner on the post of Additional Assistant Engineer (Civil) Class III from the date on which the petitioner has completed 5 years of service i.e. 13/3/2006;

In the alternative

(B) Your Lordship may be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondents to regularize the services of the petitioner on the post of Additional Assistant Engineer (Civil) Class III with effect from 14/2/2008 i.e. the date on which similarly situated employees have been regularized by the respondent No.1.”

2. Brief facts of the case are as under :-

2.1. On 3/3/2001 the respondent No.1 had given an advertisement in the local daily news paper namely Gujarat Samachar for the post of Assistant Engineer.

2.2. Pursuant to the said advertisement, the petitioner had applied for the post of Additional Assistant Engineer (Civil) Class III on 8/3/2001.

2.3. Pursuant to the said advertisement, the petitioner was called for interview on 11/3/2001 by the respondent department and after interview and other selection procedure, the petitioner came to be appointed on 13/3/2001 by the respondent No.1. The said post at the relevant point of time was called as Bhukamp Awas Bandhakam Nirikshak/consultant (“the consultant” for short). The said appointment was initially for a period of 9 months on a fixed pay scale of Rs.5000/- per month. Along with the petitioner several other persons were appointed in various Talukas in the District Kutch.

2.4. Time and again, services of the petitioner have been extended by the respondent department.

2.5. The State Government vide Government Resolution dated 16/2/2006 of the Finance Department issued a Circular whereby the employees working in the different departments of the State Government have been given the benefits to the effect that the employees who have completed service of 5 years satisfactorily on the sanctioned post, the State Government thought it fit to regularize the services of the concerned employees.

2.6. After the petitioner being appointed in 2001, the petitioner was working with the State. After the initial appointment of the petitioner by respondent No.1 because of the devastating earthquake in the district Kutch, the petitioner was transferred to the respondent No.2 department i.e. Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority, who have time and again extended the services of the petitioner on the fixed pay.

2.7. The respondent No.1 department vide letter dated 12/4/2006 transferred all the employees who have been appointed on the post of “Consultant” to the offices of the district Collector. Thereafter the Collector passed an order and thereby transferred the petitioner to the office of the Mamlatdar and since then the petitioner has been working with the respondent department without any break.

2.8. Even the office of the Mamlatdar has also made several recommendations to the respondent department on 16/2/2009, 24/9/2009, 5/10/2010, 27/6/2011 and 25/8/2011 and thereby requested to regularize the services of the petitioner.

2.9. The Deputy Collector addressed a letter dated 2/9/2011 to the Collector and thereby requested for regularization of the services of the petitioner.

2.10. Pursuant to the recommendation made by the office of the Collector and the office of the Mamlatdar, the respondent No.2 department informed the office of the Collector vide letter dated 23/3/2012 and 17/5/2011 that since the appointment was not made by the respondent No.2, they cannot regularize the services of the petitioner.

The respondent No.2 also informed the office of the Collector that since the initial appointment was made by the respondent No.1 and thereby asked not to make any representation