Directs Nagaland Govt to consider regularising service of a work-charged employee of 34 years
Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 14
The ‘State is a model employer’ and an employee under it cannot be treated unfairly and unreasonably, observed the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench on April 14, while directing the State Government to consider regularising the 34 year service of a work-charged employee.
Consider the regularisation of the service within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of the court’s order, stated the order issued by Justice Songkhupchung Serto.
In catena (series) of cases, this Court had directed the State Government to regularise the service of people who have served for several years as work-charged employees, it further noted.
The Court was hearing a writ petition filed by a petitioner for issuance of ‘appropriate writ or order or direction’ directing the regularisation of his service after serving as a W/C Sectional Assistant in the Department of PWD (Road &Bridges) for the last 34 years.
He was appointed to the post on September 28, 1987 with a scale of pay plus all other allowances as admissible under the rules by the Executive Engineer (PWD), Changtongya Division and since then, has been serving the department “without any break in service,” the petitioner submitted.
He further noted that after completion of 32 years of service, he submitted a representation to the Engineer-in-Chief, NPWD requesting for regularisation of his service via the Executive Engineer, PWD (R&B), Feeder Roads Division, Tuli on February 2, 2020.
The case was also recommended to the Engineer-in-Chief, NPWD by the elected member of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) representing the constituency (Tuli), he further submitted.
However, without any positive action by the respondents, the petitioner approached the court.
The counsel of the petitioner also submitted that an Office Memorandum dated March 17, 2015 issued by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR) department (Administrative Reforms Branch), Government of Nagaland, stated that a “work charge or casual employee can be regularised in service if the employee has completed 30 years of service and if he was paid with scale of pay.”
“The petitioner, thus, is entitled to regularisation as per the provisions of the OM,” it said.
The Government Advocate appearing for the state respondents - State of Nagaland represented by the Chief Secretary; Secretary, Works and Housing; Engineer-In-Chief NPWD; and Chief Engineer, R&B - meanwhile, submitted that the March 17 OM “applies only to those work charge employees who have completed 30 years of service as on 1/1/2015.”
After considering both the submissions, Justice Serto observed that the overall reading of the OM indicated that the scheme was prepared not only to facilitate regularisation of the work-charged or casual employees “but to stop the practice of appointment on work charge/casual basis under the state government.”
However, in the case of the petitioner, even after the lapse of the time given in the OM, he has been allowed to continue to serve as work-charged and is about to complete 35 years length of service, he said.
Accordingly, Justice Serto noted that respondents “cannot take shelter under one clause of the scheme and deny the benefit of the same to the petitioner.”
Moreover, to release a person without regularisation after serving for almost 35 years “would be unreasonable,” he said. Adding the fact that the petitioner was allowed to continue in service with scale of pay and all other allowances admissible, which further revealed that his service was required and utilised all along.
“When a person’s service has been utilised for such a long time under the same service condition as other employees, what is left is only the creation of a post and issuance of regularisation order, which could have been done by the state respondents,” he added.
Consequently, observing that the state is a ‘model employer,’ Justice Serto issued the direction for considering the regularisation of the petitioner’s service.
