2026:CGHC:17750 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 3396 of 2026

1. Devki Sahu S/o Late Shri Khageshwar Sahu Aged About 42 Years Working As Post Of Pump Operator At Nagar Panchayat Kotba, Tahsil- Pathalgaon, District- Jashpur (C.G.)

2. Pitambar Sahu S/o Late Shri Chandrabhan Sahu Aged About 47 Years Working As Post Of Pump Operator At Nagar Panchayat Kotba, Tahsil-

Pathalgaon, District- Jashpur (C.G.)

... Petitioners Versus

1. State Of Chhattisgarh Through Its Principal Secretary, Department Of Urban Administration And Development, Mantralaya, Naya Raipur, Raipur (C.G.)

2. The Director Department Of Urban Administration And Development Naya Raipur, Distt- Raipur (C.G.)

3. The Joint Director Ambikapur, Department Of Urban Administration And Development, Division Sarguja, (C.G.)

4. The Chief Municipal Officer Nagar Panchayat Kotba, District- Jashpur (C.G.)

... Respondents For Petitioners : Mr. Manoj Chauhan, Advocate For Respondents-State : Ms. Anuja Sharma, Dy. Govt. Advocate SB: Hon'ble Shri Parth Prateem Sahu, Judge

ORDER ON BOARD

20/04 /2026

1. Petitioners have filed this writ petition seeking following reliefs:-

“10.1 That, this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an appropriate writ in the nature of mandamus and direct the respondents to consider the case of the petitioners for regularization in terms of the series of judicial verdicts are referred above right from Umadevi’s case (supra) read with Narendra Kumar Tiwari’s case (supra) upto recent verdicts as a onetime PAWAN measure within a time frame and given all the KUMAR JHA consequential benefits.

Digitally signed by PAWAN KUMAR JHA

10.2 That, this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to grant any other relief as it may deem fit and appropriate.”

2. Learned counsel for the petitioners submit that petitioners were initially appointed as Pump Operator under Gram Panchayat Kotba on 19.07.1996. Subsequently Gram Panchayat was constituted as Nagar Panchayat. Since the date of initial engagement, they are working on the said post on daily wages. Petitioners have rendered more than 30 years of continuous service under respondent-department, however, their service have not been regularized. He submits that in view of the Circular of the State Government as also the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in case of S ecretary, State of Karnataka and Others v. Umadevi and Others reported in (2006) 4 SCC 1 petitioners are entitled for regularization of their services. He contended that the petitioners have submitted representation dated 27.03.2025 (Annexure P-2 & P-3) before Respondent No. 4 with a prayer for regularizing their services and therefore, direction be issued to the concerned authority to consider and take decision on the representation submitted by petitioners, expeditiously within specified time frame.

3. On the other hand, learned counsel for the Respondents/State would submit that as petitioners are not pressing this writ petition on merits and are only seeking direction to the concerned authority to consider and take decision on the representation dated 27.03.2025 submitted by the petitioners, she is having no objection to the limited prayer.

4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the documents placed on record.

5. The grievance of petitioners as projected in this writ petition is that they are continuously in employment since last about more than 30 years with the Respondents/State. Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Umadevi (supra) considering that the daily-wage employee/temporary employee will not be discriminated to the extent of wages/salary as paid to the regular employees has considered the regularization of employees who have been employed by the employer, their service is not illegal but irregular and is continuous employment since about more than 10 years and observed thus:-

“53. One aspect needs to be clarified. There may be cases where irregular appointments (not illegal appointments) as explained in S.V. NARAYANAPPA (supr