Mess Staff of Defence Services are entitled for regularisation.

(Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for the issuance of writ of certiorari calling for the records pertaining to O.A.No.1039/2001 on the file of the 27th respondent Tribunal and to quash the order dated 25.7.2002 passed by the Tribunal in O.A.No.1039 of 2001.)

P.K. Misra, J.

The present writ petition is filed by Union of India, the Commandant, Defence Services Staff College and the Mess Secretary, Officers Mess Defence Services Staff College, Wellington Branch, Nilgiris, against the order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal in O.A.No.1039 of 2001.

2. The aforesaid Original Application has been filed by the present contesting respondents 1 to 26. The prayer in the said Original Application filed before the Tribunal was for quashing the letter dated 29.5.2001 to the effect that the request of the present respondents 1 to 26 for grant of temporary status and regularisation of their services was not acceptable. The Tribunal quashed the letter dated 29.5.2001 and directed the present writ petitioners,

“...to consider the case of the applicants for grant of temporary status and the consequent regularisation. In case it is required to formulate the service conditions, this may be done. Having regard to this fact that this may take time, we grant six months time for completing the entire exercise of grant of temporary status and the consequent regularisation”.

The present writ petition is against the aforesaid direction of the Tribunal.

3. The brief facts as culled out from the Original Application and the counter affidavit filed before the Tribunal, the affidavit and the counter affidavit filed in this Court are as follows: -

Union of India has established Defence Services Staff College at Wellington (Nilgiris), for the purpose of imparting training to middle-level Commissioned Officers of all three Services in the rank of Lieutenant/Major and their equivalents in Navy and Air Force, Officers from Para-Military Forces, Civil Services, Officers and Service Officers from friendly foreign countries. Such officers attend staff training course come from various Head Quarters / Units all over India and abroad. Duration of the course is for 11 months. The total strength of the Directing Staff (Teaching Staff) and the trainees attending such course during any particular year is approximately 550. All such teaching staff and the trainees avail the mess facility. For the aforesaid purpose, a building is provided by the Union Government. The mess is known as ‘Defence Services Staff College Mess’ in short ‘DSSC Mess’. The applicants before the Tribunal have been engaged, some of them for a pretty long period, in different capacities such as waiter, cook, sodamistry, masalchi and safaiwala to do various chores in connection with preparation of food, serving of food, beverages and cleaning of the mess. Such applicants are employed by the Mess Secretary and directly under his control, who is usually an officer in the rank of Brigadier. Since such applicants had been continuing for a long period, representation had been made on their behalf to regularise them and treat them as regular employees. One of the co-workers, namely, S. Arumugam, had filed O.A.No.266 of 2000, which was disposed of by the Tribunal by giving a direction to dispose of his representation on merit and in accordance with law. While considering the said representation, the present Petitioner No.3 issued the impugned letter dated 29.5.2001, rejecting the request for regularisation mainly on the basis that such employees were not paid out of any defence services budget/estimates nor had been employed as per rules of the Government of India regarding recruitment and had been privately employed and were being paid out of subscription contributed by members of the mess.

4. The main contention of the petitioners before the Tribunal, which has also been reiterated before us, is to the effect that various employees had been engaged by the Officer