KAMAL DASS Vs. STATE OF HP

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners have approached this Court, invoking Article 226 of Constitution of India, seeking direction to respondents to regularize their services on completion of 7 years of daily waged services with claim that they were engaged by respondents in the year 2009 and have completed 7 years service in the year 2016 and as per Instructions dtd. 28/6/2014 issued in the matter regarding the Policy of Regularization of daily-wage workers/contingent paid workers, Government had decided that daily-wage workers/contingent paid workers in all Departments, who had completed 7 years continue service with requisite minimum days in a calender year as on 31 st March, 2014, be regularized against vacant posts of respective departments.

(2.) In response to the petition, claim of petitioners has been opposed on the ground that they were initially engaged as temporary/imported daily wages Beldars in July, 2010 through of Contractor and they had not completed minimum 160 days as required in tribal area during a year and from January 2011 they rt are regularly working as temporary/imported daily wages Beldars in H.P. PWD Sub Division Keylong. However, petitioner Kamal Dass, had, in the year 2013, worked only for 135 days and thus had not completed minimum 160 days in the said year. After January, 2014, he is regularly working as daily wages Beldar, whereas petitioner No.2 had worked more than 160 days in each calender year, since her initial appointment. Respondents have also placed on record their Mandays Charts as Annexure R-1 and Annexure R-2 to substantiate and demonstrate the claim of petitioners with respect to days for which petitioners had worked with the Department.

(3.) Apart from plea that petitioners were engaged through Contractor and in case of Kamal, there was shortfall of minimum days in the year 2013, another objection has been raised that petitioners are Nepali citizens and thus are not entitled to be appointed in the respondents-Department.