JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Mr. A.M. Tripathi, Mr. R.C. Tiwari, Mr. Y.K. Mishra, learned Counsel for the writ petitioners and Shri Ramesh Kumar Singh, learned Additional Advocate General, assisted by Shri Sanjay Sarin, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel and Shri Tushar Verma, learned Counsel for the respondents/State.

A. Introduction

2. The present bunch of writ petitions is a classic example of litigious employment, in as much as the Hon’ble Apex Court and this Court had been flooded with numerous petitions from ‘Tube Well Operators’ in the past on several occasion raising several issues relating to their service conditions. This Court also had an opportunity to deal with an issue relating to regularization of these part time Tube Well Operators and has passed a detailed judgment on 23.01.2023 passed in Writ-A-22586 of 2019 (Sanjeevan Lal & 26 Ors. Vs. Sate of U.P, through Principal Secretary Irrigation Lucknow and Ors.) and other connected matters.

3. Although, the issue engaging the attention of this Court in the present bunch of writ petitions is altogether a different issue as juxtap