No automatic regularization for contractual employees without regular selection process, per Uma Devi principles.

ORDER

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rameshwar Vyas, Member (J)

The instant Original Applications have been filed jointly by the applicants seeking direction against the respondents to regularize their services on the post of Staff Nurse Grade-II in the AIIMS, Jodhpur. Applicants are also seeking direction for relaxation of the age for applying pursuant to the advertisement dated 24.09.2016 for the post of Staff Nurse Grade-II.

For the sake of convenience, brief facts of OA No.445/2016 may be taken up for decision of all these nine OAs.

2. Facts of the case in brief are as under:-

All the applicants were appointed on contract basis pursuant to advertisement dated 15.07.2013 (Annexure-A/1) issued by the respondent No.2. It is averred that the appointment of the applicants on contract basis was made after following regular process of selection. Therefore, it has to be treated as substantive appointment in accordance with the basic principles of service jurisprudence. The applicants after applying for the post of Staff Nurse Grade-II, appeared in written examination and after passing the same, they were interviewed by the Select Committee. It is the stand of the applicants that their appointment cannot be treated as contractual for all times to come. Their appointment has been made on regular sanctioned posts and if the posts are lying vacant, the applicants can very well be regularized and conferred the regular pay scale, which is being conferred to the appointments made by the ad hoc selection committee. It is averred that there were no Recruitment Rules for conducting selections for various posts of AIIMS, Jodhpur. But, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge, the respondents were taking guidance from the Recruitment Rules of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya Hospital Staff Nurse Recruitment Rules, 2014 and also the AIIMS Recruitment Rules of New Delhi.

It is further averred that an advertisement has now been issued on 24.09.2016 (Annexure-A/6) for recruitment of 550 posts of Staff Nurse Grade-II in the pay scale of Rs.9300-34800 with the Grade Pay of Rs.4600/-. It is the say of the applicants that from bare perusal of the said advertisement it would reveal that the same process of selection is being undertaken by the respondents, which was earlier made when the applicants were appointed as Staff Nurse Grade-II. It is the grievance of the applicants that they have crossed 35 years of age, therefore, they are not eligible to apply pursuant to the said advertisement. The applicants are working against the sanctioned posts, but they have not been regularized despite working for last more than two and a half years. They are being treated as contractual employee.

Treating the applicants as contractual appointees is nothing but a clear case of gross arbitrary and mala fide exercise of power. The applicants are better equipped than the novice who shall be appointed pursuant to the new advertisement. As per All India Institute of Medical Sciences Regulation 1999 (Annexure-A/7), the maximum age limit for a candidate at the time of recruitment is 30 years for non-teaching posts. This limit is relaxable by the governing body. Since, no decision has been taken by the governing body, the applicants are left with no other alternate but to approach this Tribunal to declare them as regular employees. Merely because the applicants are more than 35 years of age, they cannot be deprived of regular pay scale of Staff Nurse Grade-II.

The applicants apprehended that their services might be terminated after the regular selections. The applicants made representation dated 04.10.2015 to regularize their services and also grant them the regular pay scale on the post of Staff Nurse Grade-II with all consequential benefits.

Citin