SACHIN VASANTRAO YEREWAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In these writ petitions the petitioners seek a direction to be issued to Zilla Parishad, Chandrapur, Zilla Parishad, Gadchiroli, Zilla Parishad, Wardha and Zilla Parishad, Yavatmal to regularise their services and thereafter grant them all consequential benefits.

(2.) For the sake of convenience, the facts in Writ Petition No.8622 of 2018 are being referred to. It is the case of the petitioners that they have been working on the post of Junior Engineer on contractual basis under the 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan' Scheme. Their initial appointment has been made in the year 2004-05 and such appointment was on contractual basis for a period of eleven months. After giving a technical break of one day their services have been again re-engaged on contractual basis. The petitioners claim that they have discharged such contractual duties till the year 2015 and their services have thereafter not been further engaged. It is claimed that the service record of each petitioner is clean and there is no reason for not continuing their services on contractual basis by the Zilla Parishad. Various representations have been made by them since their discontinuation seeking the relief of regularisation and consequential benefits. The work done under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan Scheme was available and there was no reason for not continuing the petitioners in service. Since there has been no response to the representations made by the petitioners, they have approached this Court by filing the aforesaid writ petitions in December 2018.

(3.) In the reply filed by the Zilla Parishads the claim as made by the petitioners has been denied. It has been stated therein that in absence of any sanctioned post of Junior Engineer being available, the services of the petitioners cannot be regularised. Their engagement was under the Scheme known as 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan' and the appointments were purely on temporary and contractual in nature. The said Scheme was sponsored by the Central Government and the Zilla Parishad was merely an implementing agency for the said Scheme. In absence of any legal right in favour of the petitioners, the prayers as made in the writ petitions cannot be granted.