HC relief for Haryana Govt

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 25

Acting on an appeal filed by  the state of Haryana against a Single Bench order granting three months from November last year to different departments to consider the case of its employees and pass regularisation orders, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today granted interim relief to the government against implementation of the order.

The order was passed by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli. Taking up the matter, the Bench also fixed April 2 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

The Single Judge in October last year had disposed of a bunch of petitions after asserting that the issue with regard to regularisation had been clarified and adjudicated upon by the Supreme Court as well as Division Bench of the High Court.

As such, the writ petitions were being disposed of by giving three months time commencing from November 1, 2018, to February 1, 2019, to different departments of the Haryana government to consider the case of the petitioners as per the facts of each case and pass regularisation orders on a par with juniors or similarly situated employees without insisting upon eligibility condition of qualification and over-age, among others.

The Bench had added that after February 1, the departments would inform the Registry of the High Court regarding orders passed by them. 

“In case no order is passed, in that eventuality, Rs 50, 000 as cost will be deposited in the account of the each petitioner, who have been waiting for years to get the benefit of regularisation being from the lower strata of the society”.

The Bench added that in some of the cases, the daily wagers after serving for almost 20 to 25 years, had expired and their widows were not able to get family pension on account of the fact that their husbands’ services had not been regularised.

The imposition of cost was to curtail the agony of widows/victims who were sometimes even unable to approach the Court for the necessary relief. 

“Further direction is being given that the decision taken by the government to regularise the services after creating diminishing cadre posts, as per the regularisation policies up to October 1, 2003, and July 29, 2011, will be applicable to all the autonomous bodies, Board, Corporation and Universities”.