Bombay HC: contract staff need 10 years' service for permanency, not just 240 days

The Bombay High Court dismissed a writ petition by six former contract Junior Engineers of the Pune Municipal Corporation who sought permanent appointment and regular pay after completing 240 days of service. The petitioners were engaged on contract in December 2007, on consolidated wages of Rs 5,500 a month for projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, after missing a regular selection list following a 2005 recruitment drive. They filed complaints of unfair labour practice before the Industrial Court, Pune, in 2009 under Section 28 of the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971, seeking permanency from the date each completed 240 days, along with equal pay and a direction against contractual engagement. Their services were terminated in March 2011, and the Industrial Court eventually dismissed their complaints.

On writ, Justice Sandeep V. Marne upheld that dismissal. The Court held that completing 240 days, or even a couple of years, of continuous service does not entitle a temporary employee of a State instrumentality to court-ordered permanency. Citing the Supreme Court's ruling in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (3) and its own recent decisions in University of Mumbai v. Sunil Pagare and Film and Television Institute of India v. Javed Rasul Banedar, it held one-time regularisation is available only to employees with at least ten years of continuous service on sanctioned posts, which the petitioners, with roughly three years, fell well short of.