BASUDEB DEBNATH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These petitions arise in common background. They were heard together and would be disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) At the outset, we may record facts in brief. In WP(C) No.1162 of 2018 petitioners are serving as casual workers in the office of Accountant General (Audit), Tripura on the post of Multi Tasking Staff (MTS) since several years. They are paid fixed monthly wages. According to them, some of them have been continued uninterruptedly since more than 20 years by now. Many of them have completed more than 10 years of such service. Few of them have been engaged more recently. At Annexure-1 these petitioners have produced a chart showing their year of initial engagement, total length of service as on 17/1/2017 and the monthly wages for the work assigned to them which is being paid to them. This chart reads as under:

(3.) The petitioners contend and with respect to which there is no serious dispute that in the department there are 34 sanctioned posts of MTS. Since long, many of these posts have remained vacant. On account of large number of vacancies in the cadre, the department had to engage casual workers such as the petitioners to perform important tasks such as, cleaning, driving the official car etc. In support of this averment the petitioners have produced at Annexure-2 a letter dtd. 11/10/2010 written by the Sr. Deputy Accountant General (Audit) to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India pointing out that against the sanctioned strength of 34 persons in the cadre of MTS only 19 posts were filled up. It was, therefore, difficult to manage the duties of the MTS such as, maintaining cleanliness, upkeep of the Sec. , sanitation work of the building and office premises, cleaning, dusting, watch and ward, delivery etc. On account of this, he had to engage 9 persons on casual basis. The petitioners have also produced at Annexure-3 another such letter dtd. 12/10/2012 written by the Accountant General (Audit) to the Principal Director (Staff), Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in which it is pointed out that the office has not made any recruitments to the post of MTS and that the day to day work is being managed by engaging casual workers. The petitioners have also produced a letter dtd. 20/3/2017 which is in the nature of reply to the queries raised on their behalf under Right to Information Act received from Deputy Accountant General/Admn. In this letter it was stated that presently against 34 casual workers for the same nature of work.