HC tells Chandigarh Sector 26 mandi panel to file affidavit on outsourcing workers

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today sought a clear answer from the Municipal Corporation’s market committee on how core sanitation responsibilities at the Sector 26 vegetable market came to be handled exclusively through outsourced workers, despite there being no sanctioned posts for such duties in its regular establishment.

The Court directed the market committee secretary to file an additional affidavit within four weeks setting out the statutory basis, if any, for outsourcing sanitation work, explaining the absence of sanctioned posts, and detailing how uninterrupted and accountable sanitation services will be ensured at the Sector 26 mandi.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry was hearing the suo motu case initiated after the court took cognisance of a news report carried in these columns on the unhygienic conditions prevailing in the mandi. The Bench was assisted in the matter by UT senior standing counsel and senior advocate Amit Jhanji.

During the hearing, the Bench questioned the legality of outsourcing such essential posts when no cadre positions existed, remarking that relying wholly on contractual workers for fundamental municipal functions weakened oversight, since disciplinary control was restricted to cancelling contracts and appointing new agencies. Chief Justice Nagu observed that the role of a sanitary inspector was pivotal and could not rest entirely on outsourced personnel without statutory sanction.

When asked to identify the legal authority enabling such outsourcing, counsel for the committee cited Section 22 of the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, applicable to the UT Chandigarh. The Bench noted that the provision only prescribed the manner in which contracts might be executed and did not by itself justify outsourcing essential public duties.