MANAS MANDAL Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) LET the affidavit of service filed in Court be kept with the record.

(2.) THE writ petitioner was employed by the concerned panchayet samity as a Typist on casual basis in 2001. He worked in that capacity till 25th, november, 2008. Thereafter he has been discharged by the respondent authorities without assigning any reason. He alleges that someone else has been engaged to do the work in his place. The Court will not readily interfere with a regular selection process to select candidates to replace casual workers, as the casual workers do not ordinarily have any right to permanent employment, State of Haryana and Ors. v. Shakuntla Devi (reported in AIR 2009 sc 869) and General Manager, Uttaranchal Jal Sansthanv. Laxmi Devi and Ors. with an analogous matter (reported in (2009) 7 SCC 205 ).

(3.) BUT without initiating a regular selection process a casual worker who has been working for eight years without any complaint cannot be removed unless there is proper cause to do so and such cause should take the form of reasons. Otherwise removal at the whim of some authorities smacks of arbitrariness and mala fide and works tremendous injustice to this kind of workers. The news of sudden termination is bound to bring considerable hardship to a worker. Arbitrariness is presumed when without proper reason casual workers are replaced by other casual workers are replaced without due selection process. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has in similar circumstances deprecated this practice by saying "the course adopted by the high Court is to displace one ad hoc arrangement by another ad hoc arrangement which is not at all appropriate for these persons who have gained experience which will be more beneficial and useful to the colleges concerned rather than to appoint persons afresh on ad hoc basis" Hargurpratap Singh v. State of Punjab and Ors. (reported in (2007) 13 SCC 292 ).