STATE OF UP Vs. MANGAL PRASAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Sri U. N. Sharma senior advocate assisted by Sri P. N. Rai Advocate on behalf of the Bridge Corporation, Standing Counsel on behalf of the State of U. P. and Sri Ravindra kumar Advocate on behalf of the employees.

(2.) THESE special appeals have been filed by the State of U. P. as well as by the U. P. State bridge Corporation, established by the State of u. P. against the common judgment of the learned single Judge delivered in a bunch of 154 writ petitions. All the appeals have been clubbed and are being decided by this judgment. The relevant facts for the decision of these appeals are: u. P. Bridge Corporation has been constituted by the State of U. P. basically for carrying on the construction work of Bridges etc. It is not in dispute that the power to create posts both Class-IV and above in the U. P. Bridge Corporation vest with the State government. The aforesaid 154 writ petitions were filed by the persons, who were engaged by the Bridge Corporation as daily wager/work charged employees since 1975 onwards, with the prayer that the State Government/ corporation be directed to regularize the services of such petitioners who have completed requisite years of service in the corporation and further to ensure that such employees are granted minimum of the pay scale admissible to regular employees, till such regularization.

(3.) BEFORE the writ Court a stand was taken on behalf of the State Authorities/bridge corporation that there were no regular vacancies available and therefore no regularization can be directed. Prayer for salary at par with the regular employees working in the Corporation was also disputed on the ground that the nature of appointment of petitioners being different qua the appointment of regular employees, they cannot claim parity with any regularly appointed staff for the purposes of payment of salary.