Point of Law : It is also a settled cannon of law that the Government has the authority and power to not only frame its policies, but also to change the same. The power of the Government, regarding how the policy should be shaped or implemented and what should be its scope, is very wide, subject to it not being arbitrary or unreasonable.

JUDGMENT :

Vivek Chaudhary, J.

1. This is a bunch of writ petitions whereby petitioners, who are paramedical and non paramedical staffs appointed on contractual basis in the government medical colleges and hospitals, have challenged their discharge orders issued on different dates from October, 2020 onwards and for a mandamus commanding the opposite parties to reinstate the petitioners on the posts on which they were working.

2. The facts of the case are that by government order dated 27.10.2017, the State Government took a decision for making selection and appointments on the posts of paramedical and non paramedical staff on contractual basis for government homeopathic medical colleges and hospitals. In furtherance of the aforesaid government order, an advertisement was issued on 15.12.2017 providing that contractual appointment as paramedical and non paramedical staff is to be made for a period of one year or till availability of regularly selected candidate from the UPSSSC or attaining the age of 65 years, which ever is earlier. It also provided that in the event of rendering satisfactory services the period of one year shall be extendable. The petitioners applied and were selected and appointed on different posts in terms of the advertisements issued in August, 2018 and thereafter The appointment letters also contained the conditions as mentioned in the advertisement. On the basis of the said appointment letters petitioners joined and started serving. On 26.03.2019, a video conference meeting took place under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Ayush, U.P., in which Regional Ayurvedic and Unani Officers, District Homeopathic Officers and Principals of Ayurvedic and Unani and Homeopathic Medical Colleges along with the Directors of the department were present. Number of decisions about the functioning of the department were taken and noted in the minutes of the said meeting, relevant for us, Clause-21 of the same notes, that, contractual appointment shall be made only for a period of 11 months and in no circumstance contractual employees shall be paid salary of 12 months. On the basis of the said noting in the minutes of the meeting, the Director, Homeopathy, U.P., by his letter dated 29.03.2019 asked the officials to initiate action. Again, Director, Homeopathy issued a letter dated 20.06.2019 instructing all the principals of the government homeopathic medical colleges and hospitals to discharge contractual employee on expiry of their term of contract, till execution of any fresh contract. In furtherance of the same petitioners were discharged on different dates on completion of the period of one year from their respective appointments. On 06.07.2019, the Director, Homeopathy again issued a letter to the principals of all State homeopathic medical colleges and hospitals stating that the purpose for which the teaching and other staff were appointed on contract still exists, therefore, in the public interest/government functioning, even after completion of the contract period their renewal is necessary and expedient, and therefore, the contracts of teaching and other staff detailed in the annexed list should be renewed again, after creating a break of one week, for a further period of 11 months or till the regular selection is made for the said contract posts. Thus, the services of the petitioners were extended for a period of 11 months but, now after the period of 11 months petitioners are again discharged by the impugned orders by respective principals from 2019 onwards.

3. Learned counsels for petitioners submit that petitioners were appointed in terms of the government order dated 27.10.2017. The decision to remove the petitioners is contrary to the government order and could not be taken by the Secretary in a meeting of the department. He further submits that it is not in dispute that the nature and requirement of the said work is permanent, as there is no decision of the State Government to close the homeopathic