VILAS PAWAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two petitions are taken up together and disposed of by this common order as they arise from the common order dtd. 1/7/2022 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal.

(2.) The Petitioners, applicants before the Tribunal, were appointed on daily wages in the office of Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. Petitioners in Writ Petition No. 11265/2022 filed Original Application No. 701/2017 and Petitioners in Writ Petition No. 16119/2022 filed Original Application No. 145/2019. According to them, they were in services of the Respondents as daily wage workers for substantial period of time, for almost two decades. They approached the Tribunal seeking relief of regularisation of their services and to restrain the Respondents from outsourcing the work to independent Contractors and also sought payment of wages and arrears of 1/30 th of the pay in the relevant pay- scale. In short, seeking parity with the regular employees. They based their claim for payment of 1/30th of pay on the basis of Office Memorandum (O.M.) issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training) on 7/6/1988.

(3.) During the course of hearing before the Tribunal, the Petitioners gave up their prayer for regularisation and sought the benefit of the O.M. dtd. 7/6/1988. Reply Affidavits were filed by the Respondent-Government wherein stand was taken that the Petitioners were not daily wage workers but they were working on contract and that therefore the O.M. dtd. 7/6/1988 was not applicable to them. The Tribunal accepted this contention of the Respondents and dismissed the Original Applications. Therefore, the Petitioners are before us.