IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO. ______ OF 2026 [SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) 30590 OF 2024]

K SRINIVAS & ORS. Appellant(s)

VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)

O R D E R

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal arises out of the Judgment and Order dated 18.11.2024 passed by the High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad in Writ Appeal No.

1018 of 2024.

3. The appellants initially joined service between 1989 and 2002 as Office/Lab Attendants in National Institute of Technology, Warangal (previously known as Regional Engineering College, Warangal) as daily wagers.

4. At this stage, the appellants filed various writ petitions before the High Court seeking regularization of their services. The High Court disposed of the said writ petitions vide orders dated 04.10.2007 and 12.10.2007. The operative portion of order dated Signature Not Verified J D a a y t a e n : t 2 K 02 u 6 m .0 a 3 r . A 1 r 6 ora 04.10.2007 is reproduced thus :-

Reason:

“…..the respondents are directed to consider regularization of the services of the Appellants, if sanctioned posts are available and, if necessary, by seeking permission from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, in this regard and pass appropriate orders within a period of six months from the date of receipt of a copy of this Order. Till such time, the services of the Appellants shall not be disturbed.”

5. The orders dated 04.10.2007 and 12.10.2007 attained finality as they were not challenged by the respondents. By virtue of the said orders, the appellants continued in service. Since the orders dated 04.10.2007 and 12.10.2007 were not complied with, the appellants filed contempt petitions, which were dismissed, observing that the regularization was subject to the approval of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

6. Appellants thereafter made several representations to the Board of Governors between 2016 to 2018 seeking regularization, However, these representations were not considered.

7. on 16.08.2021 an advertisement being recruitment Advt.No.1/2021 was issued by the respondents for direct recruitment to various posts. Aggrieved, Petitioners filed writ petition no. 31379/2021 and sought quashing of the said advertisement and also sought regularization of their services.

8. The High Court disposed of the above writ petition vide order dated 03.12 2021 directing the respondent no. 2 and 3 to permit the petitioners to participate in the selection process and consider them for appointment if they fulfil the educational qualifications and if they fall within the zone of consideration. Although the petitioners participated in the selection process subsequently, they were not selected.

9. Thereafter, the Board of Governors, in its 58^th meeting, inter alia, resolved as under :-

“The Board has also approved the proposal for filling 25 posts of Office Attendant/Laboratory Assistant by Internal circulation among the Daily Wage workers subject to the condition that they meet the eligibility criteria as per Recruitment Rules 2019 and may be given relaxation in age only, as approved by BoG in its 48th meeting held on 13.06.2019 as a onetime measure.”

10. Consequently, NIT (Respondent No. 2 herein) issued Vacancy Circular No. 1/2023 dated 07.02.2023 through internal circulation, inviting applications from eligible Daily Wage workers to fill up 25 vacant posts of Office/Lab Attendants. The appellants were appointed on 13.06.2023 after the written examination held pursuant to the issuance of the said Vacancy circular. However, the appointments of the appellants were cancelled by an order dated 26.09.2023 on the ground that the appointments were made by internal circulation without any Open Advertisement.

11. Aggrieved, the appellants filed writ petition no. 27532/2023 before the High Court against the cancellation of their appointment. The learned Single Judge, by order dated 09.01.2024, allowed the writ petition, holding th