Ad hoc employees completing 7 years service under 2001 policy gain vested regularization rights not divested by prospective superseding orders or later statutes; administrative delay and junior preference violate equality.

ORDER

Per: - Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member

1. The applicant has filed the present Original Application under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking the following reliefs: -

i) Allowing the instant application of the applicants alongwith costs;

ii) Direct the respondents to regularize the services of the applicants as Drivers, under the provisions of Government Order No. 1285-GAD of 2001 dated 06.11.2001 w.e.f. their respective dates of completion of seven years' service alongwith all consequential benefits;

iii) Any other relief which this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case may also be granted in favour of the applicant and against the respondents.

2. The facts of the case as averred by the applicant in his pleadings, are as follows: -

i. The applicants were all engaged as Drivers on adhoc/temporary basis by the respondent No. 4 vide various orders issued from time to time, details of which are mentioned against each hereunder: Applicant no. 1 engaged on 09.07.1992; applicant no. 2 engaged on 21.05.1994; applicant no. 3 engaged on 26.10.1995; applicant no. 4 engaged on 24.07.1996.

ii. Further it is submitted that while the applicant No. 1 was appointed on temporary basis in the pay scale attached to the post of Driver for a period of 89 days, the applicants Nos. 2 to 4 were appointed on adhoc basis for a period of 89 days or till final selection is made by the Services Selection Board. The engagement of all the applicants was made against clear vacancies. The engagement of the applicants was, thereafter, continued by issuing orders in continuation of the abovesaid orders of engagement. Even as on date, all the applicants continue in working as Drivers in the same capacity and have by far rendered services ranging from 25 years to 29 years.

iii. Some counterparts of applicants, who had been similarly engaged as Drivers on adhoc basis in the districts of Jammu and Kathua were regularized in the years 1997 and 1998, the aforesaid benefit of regularization was not extended to the applicants. Copies of some regularization orders passed in respect of Drivers engaged on adhoc basis in the districts of Jammu and Kathua, are annexed herewith and collectively marked as Annexure-A2 for the kind perusal of this Hon'ble Tribunal. Constrained, applicants Nos. 1 and 2 approached the Hon'ble High Court of J&K at Jammu by way of a writ petition inter alia seeking regularization of their services as Drivers, which came to be registered as SWP No. 821 of 2001 titled 'Ashok Kumar and another Vs. State of J&K and others'. A similar writ petition came to be filed by applicants Nos. 3 and 4 also, which came to be registered as SWP No. 1138 of 2001 titled 'Ashok Kumar and others Vs. State of J&K and others'.

iv. In the year 2001, while the aforesaid writ petitions filed by applicants were still pending, the government in the General Administration Department promulgated Government Order No. 1285-GAD of 2001 dated 06.11.2001 providing for regularization of all adhoc appointees to non-gazetted posts from time to time beyond 29.12.1998 till the date of issue of the government order, who were in service on that date, after completion of seven years of continuous service from the date of appointment and on fulfillment of other conditions mentioned in the said government order; dispensing with ref