The Supreme Court has deprecated the Union of India engaging casual workers and keeping them in temporary service for long without making them permanent employees, thereby denying the benefits due to them.
Expressing its displeasure and anguish at the manner in which the Borders Roads Organisation treated its casual workers, a Bench of Justices D. K. Jain and H. L. Dattu said engaging casual workers for less than six months and giving them artificial breaks so that they would not become eligible for permanent status ill behaved the Union of India and its instrumentalities, “which are supposed to be model employers.”
Justice Jain, writing the judgment, quoted an earlier ruling said; “It is a fact that a large number of casual labourers have worked with Porject Vartak for a number of years but their period of engagement at no stage is more than six months and they are recruited afresh and they do not get the status of permanent employee. As per the regulations, casual personnel are not eligible for any other privileges for continued employment under the government.”
In the instant case, the Union of India appealed against a Gauhati High Court judgment directing the government to regularize the services of members of Vartak Labour Union, some of whom had been working with the BRO for 30 years. Formulation of any scheme for regularization being a matter of policy, it was not within the High Court’s domain to direct regularization of the services of temporary appointees, the Centre said. The Bench agreed with its contention and said the union’s claim for regularisation of its members merely because they had been working for BRO for a considerable period could not be granted in the light of several decisions of this court. The Bench, quoting these judgments, said: “Casual employment terminates when the same is discontinued and merely because a temporary or casual worker has been engaged beyond the period of his employment, he would not be entitled to be absorbed in regular service or made permanent, if the original appointment was not in terms of the process envisaged by the relevant rules.
However, in the facts and circumstances of the case, where the union members had been employed in term of the regulations and had been consistently engaged for the last 30 to 40 years, of course with short breaks, “We feel the Union of India would consider enacting and appropriate regulation/scheme for absorption and regularization of the services of casual worker engaged by the BRO for execution of its on-going projects,” the Bench said.
Courtesy: AIPEU, Gr.-C, CHQ
Casual workers who are engaged in works befitting a regular worker must not come under the purview of the SCourt verdict in Uma devi case. Govt must enact law (with a cut of date & qualification & activity oriented salary) and instruct all the States to implement 'equal pay for equal work' kind of justice to the casual workers, if Govt is against permanence. This will give the worker a better deal and the the Govt will save a lot on retirement benefits.
ReplyDeleteThe following order passed by the administrative tribunal:
ReplyDelete8. M.L.KESARI’s case as quoted supra, it was made clear
that the true effect of the direction that all the persons who have
worked for more than 10 years as on 10.4.2006 (the date of the
decision in UMADEVI’s case) have to be protected. The appointment
of the Applicant is on 28.6.1993 and he has worked for more than 10
years as on 10.4.2006. The employer had not undertaken any
exercise of regularization within six months of the decision in
UMADEVI’s case as a one time measure.
9. The question may arise that the Applicant is continued on
the strength of the intervention of the Court Order, but it is to be
noted that when the interim order was granted, the Applicant’s
appointment was continuing. He was entitled to be continued till
31.3.1996. Be that as it may, the Union of India or the State
Government or their instrumentalities should take steps to regularize
as one time measure the services of such irregularly appointed
persons who have worked for 10 years or more (as on 10.4.2006) in
duly sanctioned posts. The process was to be set in motion within six
months from the date of UMADEVI’s case. The Applicant was worked
for more than 10 years as on 10.4.2006, and made representation
dated 18.6.2008 (the date of decision in Umadevi’s case). It appears
to us, the Respondents should have considered the case of the
Applicant in the light of the decision in M.L.Kesari’s case.
10. For the reasons stated above, we pass the following:
ORDER
(i) The Application is disposed of;
(ii) The Respondents are hereby directed to consider the case
of the Applicant for regularistion/absorption, if any, in the
light of KESARI’s case quoted supra.
But Government terminated the services of the applicant, is it correct decision.