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Judgment
V.K. Sharma, J.—The petition has been filed on the following prayers vide para 7(i) and (ii):
(i) That the Respondents may very kindly be directed to regularize the services of the applicants w.e.f due date i.e completion of 7 years of service with all consequential benefits.
(ii) That the Respondents may also be directed to pay equal wages/salary to the applicants as to those of regular hands and arrears be ordered to be paid with interest.
In reply the Respondents have taken the following stand vide paras 6(1), (2) and (4):
(1) In reply to contents of this para it is admitted that the applicants were engaged as part time sweeper in January, 1995 i.e two hours in the evening and two hours in the morning w.e.f 1-1-1995 and is still working in the same capacity.
(2) That the contents of this para are denied being incorrect. As per the term of engagement a part time worker is required to perform duties strictly for the period for which he/she is engaged. In the instant case if the applicants remained present in the premises beyond the duty hours for which they were engaged as part time sweeper does not create vested right on him to be categorized as a regular worker. No orders have been issued by the competent authority that applicants shall have to perform duties of sweeper. In absence of such an order the plea of the applicants in the Para that they have been discharging the same and similar duties as those of regular sweepers does not hold any validity.
(4) The working of the applicants in this capacity do not result into creation of vested right to be regularized as a sweepers. It is worthwhile to mention here that as per policy of the govt. an employee who is engaged as daily waged contingent paid worker initially shall be regularized after completion of eight years of service provided such an employee continuously worked for 240 days minimum in a calendar year. The copy of guidelines/direction issued by the govt. of HP department of personnel in this regard is appended herewith and marked as Annexure-R-A.
In view of the above, it is manifesting that Petitioners No. 1 and 2 were initially engaged as part time Sweepers on 1.1.1995 and Petitioner No. 3 in January, 1987. Admittedly, as per the policy of the State Government a part time worker is vested with the status of a contingent/whole time worker after completion of 10 years of service and thereafter after putting in further service of 8 years is entitled for regularization. In the present case, Petitioners No. 1 and 2 had completed the requisite 10 years service as part time Sweepers on 31.12.2004 and Petitioner No. 3 in January, 1997. Thus, Petitioners No. 1 and 2 were entitled for grant of status of daily wage Sweeper on and with effect from 01.01.2005 and Petitioner No. 3 from February, 1997. Thereafter services of Petitioner No. 3 were liable to be regularized after 8 years in February, 2005. However, neither they have been granted status of daily wage Sweeper(s) nor the services of Petitioner No. 3 have been regularized.
In view of the above, the petition is allowed with a direction to the Respondents/competent authority to consider the cases of Petitioners No. 1 and 2 for grant of status of contingent/whole time Sweeper w.e.f 01-01.2005 and Petitioner No. 3 from February, 1997 and thereafter regularize the services of Petitioner No. 3 from February, 2005, along with consequential benefits, within a period of three months from the date of production of copy of this judgment by the Petitioners, failing which interest @ 9% per annum shall follow.
The petition, so also the pending CMP(s), if any stand disposed of in the above terms.