IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIMLA ON THE 15th DAY OF NOVEMBER 2021 BEFORE HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTSNA REWAL DUA CIVIL WRIT PETITION No. 52 OF 2020 Between:-

KARAN SINGH S/O SH. KEHAR SINGH R/O VILLAGE KOTLU P.O. PAPLAH, TEHSIL JAISINGHPUR, DISTRICT KANGRA, H.P.

…..PETITIONER (BY SH. Y.P.S. DHAULTA, ADVOCATE)

AND

1. STATE OF H.P.

THROUGH SECRETARY (PWD) TO THE GOVT. OF H.P.

SHIMLA-2

2. THE ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF HPPWD) NIGAM BIHAR SHIMLA-2

3. THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER HPPWD, DIVISION JAISINGHPUR DISTRICT KANGRA, H.P.

.....RESPONDENTS (BY SH. KUNAL THAKUR, DEPUTY ADVOCATE GENERAL WITH SH. SUNNY DHATWALIA, ASSISTANT ADVOCATE GENERAL)

Whether approved for reporting?

__________________________________________________

This petition coming on for hearing this day, the Court passed the following: P

O R D E R

The case put-forth by the petitioner is that he was engaged in the Respondent Public Works Department on daily wage basis in the year 1996 and had completed 8 years of continuous service as on 30.04.2004. As per applicable Policy, the petitioner was requireud to be regularized w.e.f. 30.04.2004 i.e. on completion oof 8 years of continuous service whereas the respondents reCgularized his service w.e.f. 1.8.2015. Following substantive prayers have been made by the petitioner in the writ petition:-

“1. That the petitioner is considered for regularization i immediately after completion of 8 years service i.e. with effect from 2004.

2. That the arrears w.e.f. completion of 8 years with interest may also be granted in favour of the petitioner.

3. That the seniority and consequential benefits may also be granted in favour of the petitioner w.e.f. after completion of

8 years with 240 days in one calendar year.”

2. The stand taken by the respondents in their reply is that the petitioner was initially engaged on daily wage basis in the respondents department during the year 2002. He worked intermittently up-to the year 2007. Petitioner did not complete 240 days of service in any year during the period 2002 to 2007 required for regularization under the applicable G.overnment policy for regularization. Services of the petitioner were regularized vide order dated 30.07.2015f w.e.f. 1.08.2015 by considering his 240 days presence in each calendar year on completion of 7 years service frtom the year 2008 onwards. The respondents in their reply, therefore, justified their stand in regularizing the petitioner w.e.f. 1.8.2015.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner in support of prayers made in the writ petition has placed reliance on (2009) 6 SCC 611 titled as Mohd. Abdul Kadir and another Vs. Director General of Police, Assam and others. This judgment was also relied upon by the Division Bench of this Court in CWP No.711/2010 titled Ramesh Lal Vs. State of HP & Ors. alongwith other connected matters decided on 19.06.2010. On the strength of these judgments, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that breaks in service of the petitioner during the year 2002 to 2007 were artificial and liable to be counted towards his service for purposes of regularization.

4. On hearing learned counsel for the parties, I am of the considered view that the prayers made in the instant case cannot be allowed for the following reasons:- .

4(i) Respondents in their reply have clearly indicated that the petitioner did not complete 240f days of daily wage service in any calendar year from the years 2002 to 2007. Therefore, this period coultd not be counted towards regularization of the petitioner’s services.

4(ii) Learned counsel for the petitioner has placed on record a mandays chart of the petitioner for the years 2002 to 2007, statedly supplied to learned counsel for the petitioner by the reshpondents alongwith their reply filed to the writ petition.

g As per this mandays chart, which the learned icounsel for the petitioner admits to be correct, the petitioner had completed 149 days of service in the year 2002, 133 days of service in the year 2003, 101 days of service in the yea