HARESHBHAI SOMABHAI MEJIYATAR Vs. REGISTRAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) With the consent of the learned advocates for the respective parties, the petitions are taken up for final hearing.

(2.) In all these petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners at the relevant time, were working as part time sweepers in the respective Court campuses of the District Courts or the Trial Courts as the case may be, on part time basis. They were given a fixed pay of Rs.1350.00 and engaged for a period of 28 days. Admittedly, in all these cases, their engagement was not extended beyond 29/5/2012. This was as a result of a resolution dtd. 25/4/2012 issued by the Finance Department of discontinuing of services of such part time employees. A group of similarly situated part time employees approached this Court by filing Special Civil Application No.7462 of 2012 and allied matters. The prayer of those petitioners was that the Government Resolution dtd. 25/4/2012 directed the Government Officers to terminate the services of such part time employees with effect from 31/5/2012 be quashed and set aside. In a judgment rendered by this Court on 21/12/2018, the Court observed that in some cases, the petitioners were continued as a result of interim orders passed by the Court, where the petitioners were not in position to approach the Court or had approached the Court and had not been beneficiaries of interim relief, their services were terminated. The case of the petitioners would fall in the latter. The Co- ordinate bench of this Court considering various decisions of the Supreme Court, held as under:

(3.) Even otherwise, what is evident is that the Court observed that those petitioners who were affected by the resolution and who are lucky to get the stay from the Courts will be extended the benefits of the resolution but however those who had not approached the Court, and failed to obtain stay, should be reinstated. The Court categorically observed that "Those out of service shall be immediately taken back in service and be posted at the same post from where they were terminated." After the petitions were allowed in the year 2018, the State went in appeal. In Letters Patent Appeal No.1284 of 2019 and allied matters, by a decision dtd. 24/6/2019, the Division Bench dismissed the appeals confirming the decision of the learned Single Judge.