IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that the reduction of the regularization period from 10 years to 5 years was a valid legislative measure to accommodate employees affected by the state's formation, but future regularizations would revert to the original 10-year requirement.

JUDGMENT :

RITU BAHRI, C.J.

1. This order shall dispose of above mentioned 05 cases, as common questions of facts and law are involved in them.

2. The short question for consideration in these cases is that, after making the Rules of Regularization in the year 2011, the State of Uttarakhand had regularized all those employees, who had completed 10 years of service. However, subsequently, Rules were made on 31.12.2013 for regularizing those employees, who were not covered as per the Rules of 2011, and these Rules were made, keeping in view the fact that the State of Uttarakhand came into being on 09.11.2000, and many departments came into being after 2000, and there were number of employees, who could not complete 10 years of service, when 2011 Rules were framed, and they could not be regularized. Being a beneficial legislation, the State of Uttarakhand came up with the Rules of 2013, and reduced the period of regularization from 10 years to 05 years.

3. The grievance of the petitioners in this batch of cases is that the period of 10 years could not have been reduced to 05 years.

4. Since the present case is a special case, where the State was not in existence before 2000, 10 years’ period could not be completed by number of employees, as per the 2011 Rules, once the State came into being on 09.11.2000. Hence, in order to accommodate those employees, this Policy of 31.12.2013 was made. The grievance of the petitioners is only that, by creating the Rules of 2013, the State of Uttarakhand has reduced the period to 05 years, rather than restricting it to 10 years.

5. Even if this argument of counsel for the petitioners is taken into consideration today, number of employees, who have been regularized after giving 05 years of service, have now served for almost 11 more years after 2013, and even if this condition of 05 years is to be amended, the services of those employees, who have already been regularized as per the 2013 Rules, cannot be de-regularized, as they have served for almost 14 years now.

6. In the present case, there was an interim order of stay dated 04.12.2018, that no orders of regularization will be passed by the State Government, under the 2013 Rules. Hence, since 04.12.2018 no regularization orders have been passed. All those persons, who have been regularized as per the 2013 Rules before 04.12.2018, have worked for more than 13-14 years now. With respect to other candidates, who have to be regularized now, they can be regularized, as per the 2013 Rules, by taking into consideration 10 years’ service, instead of 05 years, as of now.

7. Accordingly, the 2013 Rules are being modified that, after 04.12.2018, 10 years’ period will be taken into consideration for regularization.

8. In view of the above, all the above mentioned Writ Petitions/ Special Appeals are disposed of.

9. Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of accordingly.