Temporary Status Casual Labour with long service, retiring without formal regularization, deemed regular employee entitled to pension and retiral benefits with 6% interest.

ORDER

By way of the present original application filed under section 19 of Administrative Tribunals Act 1985 the applicant has prayed for quashing the order dated 11.02.2022 and for a direction to the respondents to treat him deemed regularized MTS at par with his junior and grant him consequential benefits of such regularization including payment of pension and other retiral benefits. Prayer has also been made to direct the respondents to pay amount of gratuity, leave encashment and pension to the applicant from the date of his retirement including arrears of pension with 12% interest .

2. The facts of the case, in brief, are that the applicant, who was initially recruited as casual labour through the Employment Exchange, Varanasi and joined the service on 17.03.1977, was allowed temporary status w.e.f. 29.11.1998 and he was treated Temporary Status Casual Labour (in short „TSCL‟) at par with Group „D‟ employee w.e.f. 01.12.2002, but he was never regularized. Learned counsel for the applicant contended that although the respondents regularized the services of 21 TSCL as MTS on seniority basis vide order dated 20.03.2013, the services of the applicant was not regularized whereas he was senior to them. Subsequently, the applicant reached the age of superannuation and he was retired from service as TSCL on 07.07.2015. Thereafter, the applicant preferred representation dated 30.11.2021 for payment of pension and other retiral dues treating him deemed regularized as MTS at par with his juniors. Having received no response from the respondents, the applicant has filed the instant original application.

3. Learned counsel for the applicant contended that despite the fact that the applicant was recruited as per the rules through Employment Exchange, his service were not regularized although more than five years juniors to him like Parsuram Singh, Ashok Kumar Sharma, Bhagwan Das, Siraj Ahmad, Daya Ram Yadav and several others, who were initially recruited as casual labour during the year 1982-83, were regularized as M.T.S. Thus, the learned counsel submitted that the action of the respondents is arbitrary, illegal and against the several judicial pronouncements. Therefore, the OA may be allowed and the applicant may also be treated to be deemed regularized at par with his juniors with all consequential benefits

4. In support of his case, the learned counsel for the applicant has placed reliance on the order dated 03.08.2018 passed by Allahabad Bench of this Tribunal in OA No. 659/2013 – Raghu Nath Prasad & others Vs. U.O.I & ors. In the said order, direction was given to the respondents to treat the applicants deemed regularized and pay all retiral benefits including pensionary benefits with 6% interest per annum. Learned counsel for the applicant also cited order dated 15.10.2019 passed by the Principal Bench of this Tribunal in OA No. 1789/2018 – Jagbiri Devi Vs. UOI & Ors wherein the respondents were directed to treat the husband of the applicant as deemed regularized with effect from the date of death and to pay gratuity, leave encashment and family pension alongwith interest at the GPF rate. Learned counsel for the applicant also cited another judgment dated 25.04.2013 passed by Hon’ble High Court, Delhi in Writ No. 3018/2012 – Sharda Devi Vs. U.O.I & Ors, in which direction was given to the respondents to pay family pension to the widow petitioner alongwith arrears from the date of death of her husband treating the husband as regular employee though at the time of death, husband was only temporary status casual lab