Tribunal stays sacking of 24 Chandigarh nursing officers

The local Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal has stayed the termination orders of 24 nursing officers working on a contractual basis at the Government Medical College and Hospital Chandigarh (GMCH), Sector 32, here. The Bench has directed the hospital authorities to allow the applicants to continue in service on the same terms as prior to the discontinuation of their services on August 31, till the next date of hearing on October 30.

The Bench also directed the respondents to keep 24 available posts of nursing officer vacant till the next date of hearing.

Around 24 nursing officers, in their application filed through advocate Barjesh Mittal, prayed that pending final adjudication of the original application, 24 posts of nursing officers be kept vacant, and status quo regarding the service conditions of the applicants be maintained.

The original application was filed against an advertisement/appointment notice dated April 4 for filling 424 posts of nursing officer. The applicants alleged that the GMCH authorities did not follow the communication dated May 3, 2021, issued by the Ministry of Health, Government of India, for granting preference to persons/healthcare professionals who have rendered 100 days of Covid 19-related duties.

They have proper qualification and are registered as Nurse/Midwife with the State Nursing Council. During the Covid pandemic, since the posts of staff nurse/nursing officer were lying vacant, the GMCH resorted to filling up the posts of staff nurse on a contractual basis through outsourcing agencies. Around 150-200 people were interviewed by a screening committee of the hospital and 60 of them selected, they said.

Their counsel said the services of these nurses were discontinued from August 31.

The counsel for the respondents opposed the application, saying that 424 vacancies had been advertised, of which 163 are still vacant, including those which have been kept vacant pursuant to the court orders in similar cases.

After hearing the arguments, the tribunal said in light of the law settled by the apex court, particularly in view of the fact that the applicants had been engaged directly by the respondent department between July 1, .2021, and May15, 2022, prima facie, this tribunal is of the opinion that the action of the respondents is a deliberate effort to bypass the obligation to offer regular employment, specifically in the present case where the applicants performed essential services during the pandemic.

Tribunal order

“We are of the considered view that the case for interim relief is made out in favour of the applicants. Resultantly, the respondents are directed to keep 23 available posts of Nursing Officer in the GMCH-32, Chandigarh, vacant till the next date. The respondents are further directed to allow the applicants to continue in service on the same terms as prior to the discontinuation of their services on August 31, till the next date of hearing,” the tribunal observed.