IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP-26453-2025 (O&M)

Date of decision: 08.09.2025 Sanjeev Kumar and others ....Petitioners Versus State of Haryana and others ....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARPREET SINGH BRAR Present: Mr. Ranjivan Singh, Advocate with Mr. Risham Raag Singh, Advocate for the petitioners.

Mr. Piyush Khanna, Addl. A.G., Haryana for respondents No.1 to 3.

Mr. Surinder Choudhary, Advocate for respondent No.6.

Mr. Sukhdeep Singh Parmar, Advocate for respondent No.7.

HARPREET SINGH BRAR J. (Oral)

1. The present Civil Writ Petition is preferred under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India for the issuance of the following writs, orders, and directions:

(A) A Writ of Certiorari for quashing the impugned Letter dated 07.05.2025 (Annexure P-28) issued by Respondent No. 2, whereby the proposal for extension of 33 contractual employees, including the Petitioners, for four months from 01.04.2025 to 31.07.2025 was declined, and to further quash the action of the Respondents for not granting an extension up to 30.09.2025, which is illegal, arbitrary, unjust, discriminatory, and in violation of Articles 14 & 16 of the Constitution, especially in light of the extensions granted to similarly situated employees through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Ltd. (Respondent No. 4) as per Government Instructions (Annexures P-30, P-31, and P-

34);

(B) A Writ of Mandamus (i) directing the Respondents to grant a formal extension to all Petitioners up to 30.09.2025 (and as may be further extended) who are working on Class III/IV Contractual Posts in the Respondent-Board, deployed through Respondent No. 4, in view of Government Instructions (P-30, P-31, P-34), and to permit them to continue their services without break from 01.04.2025 with all consequential benefits including salary; (ii) directing the Respondent-State to positively consider the duly approved Agenda No. 6 of the Haryana Livestock Development Board from its meeting held on 04.05.2023 (Annexure P-33) for extension of the contractual staff/Petitioners up to the year 2027; and (iii) directing the State of Haryana to favorably consider the proposal of the Administrative Department mooted vide Noting Sheet dated 01.04.2025 to 03.06.2025 (Annexure P-

29) for granting sanction of the 33 contractual posts;

(C) An interim direction provisionally permitting the Petitioners to join their services in the Respondent-Board till the final outcome of this petition;

(D) An exemption from filing certified copies of Annexures P-1 to P-35, permitting the filing of legible photo/typed copies thereof in the interest of justice.

2. The brief facts of the case are that the petitioners were initially appointed between the year 2020–2021 on Class III and IV posts in the Haryana Livestock Development Board (HLDB) on contractual basis through M/s SAS Security and Manpower Services (Annexures P-3 to P-6). In light of the State Government’s policy, the previous outsourcing mechanism was discontinued vide Government Instructions dated 28.09.2021, and a new Deployment of Contractual Persons Policy, 2022 came into force w.e.f. 01.04.2022 (Annexures P-7 and P-8). Pursuant to this, the petitioners were formally brought under the said policy through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited (HKRNL) vide deployment offer letters issued in March/April, 2022 (Annexures P-9 to P-16A), and their services continued uninterrupted, with fixed pay at DC rates and EPF coverage. The Department of Finance approved their continuation from 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2024 based on a proposal by the Animal Husbandry Department (Annexures P-17 and P-18). Further quarterly extensions for the periods 01.04.2024 upto 30.06.2024, 01.07.2024 upto 30.09.2024 and 01.10.2024 upto 31.03.2025 were duly approved (Annexures P-19 to P-21). Meanwhile, HKRNL issued detailed guidelines for renewal of contractual deployment beyond 31.03.2025 (Annexure P-22), prompting HLDB to initiate the extension process through internal com