In cases of long, continuous service, employees serving in irregular capacities may be regularized despite initial procedural discrepancies, especially in the absence of valid recruitment processes.

JUDGMENT :

A.K. Mohapatra, J.

1. The abovenamed Petitioner, who has been working as an Assistant Surgeon and has rendered his service for first 31 years, has approached this Court by filing the present writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India with a prayer for issuance of a writ of mandamus to the Opposite Parties to regularize the service of the Petitioner as a Regular Assistant Surgeon by taking into consideration his uninterrupted and long continuance in service for more than 3 decades and to quash the impugned rejection order dated 06.07.2024 under Annexure-17 to the writ application. The Petitioner in addition to the prayer for regularization of his service, has also prayed for an direction to the Opposite Parties to disburse in his favour all consequential service and financial benefits admissible to him.

2. The factual background of the Petitioner’s case, bereft of all unnecessary details, is that the Petitioner on completion of his MBBS course and after obtaining a valid degree was initially engaged as an Assistant Surgeon on ad-hoc basis w.e.f. 23.12.1992 pursuant to order dated 18.12.1992 at Annexure-1. While the Petitioner was continuing in service, the Govt. of Odisha, vide notification dated 29.09.1993, regularised the services of several similarly situated ad-hoc Assistant Surgeons on the basis of a VALIDATION ACT w.e.f. 11.05.1993.

3. While the Petitioner was serving as an Assistant Surgeon, the Opposite Parties opened a service book of the Petitioner. They also opened GPF and GIS account of the Petitioner and the petitioner was extended with the benefit of pay fixation and he was being extended with the benefit of annual increment from time to time as was being sanctioned by the Govt. in favour of the Petitioner. While this was the position, the Govt. of Odisha sought for service particulars of Ad-hoc/ Contractual Assistant Surgeons and Dental Surgeons who have already completed five years of continuous service under the State Govt. vide their letter dated 10.04.2013. In reply to the aforesaid letter, the Opposite Party No.2 vide its letter No.11619, dtd.24.04.2013 has sent a list of 20 Ad-hoc/ Contractual Assistant Surgeons and Dental Surgeons to the different CDMOs under whom the abovenoted 20 listed doctors were discharging their duties with a specific request for verification of their service particulars, particularly with regard to 5 years of continuous service by such unlisted doctors for regularization of their service. The said list of doctors includes the name of the Petitioner at Sl. No.3 as per Annexure-6.

4. Pursuant to the letter of the Opposite Party No.2 dated 24.04.2013, the CDMO, Mayurbhanj vide letter No.3319 dated 14.05.2013 has sent the details of service particulars of the Petitioner on 14.05.2013, at Annexure-7 to the writ application. On receipt of such detailed service particulars of the enlisted doctors from different CDMOs, the Govt. of Odisha vide resolution dated 16.01.2015 has regularized the service of 8 contractual Dental Surgeons with the concurrence of Law Dept. and, as such, the abovenoted 8 doctors were brought over to the regular establishment with a regular scale of pay as per Annexure- 8. However, the case of the Petitioner, who had completed of 22 years of service by then, was not considered and he was not extended with the benefit of regularization of his service.

5. Since the case of the Petitioner was not considered by the Opposite P