Telangana High Court orders TGSRTC to consider regularisation of long-term contract staff ‘like a model employer’

The respondents were engaged by a contractor as sweepers and cleaners to execute sweeping and cleaning work at TGSRTC’s zonal workshop in Karimnagar in 1996, and their contract was extended from time to time.

The legal battle started in 1997 with the respondents filing a writ petition challenging the action of the Corporation in engaging new persons in their place, and the High Court directed the Corporation to regularise their services in the posts they were working as contract labour.

In the latest judgment, while the Corporation argued against the move, the High Court bench upheld the spirit of the writ court’s decision. The judges pointed out the irony of the Corporation continuing the engagement of these workers for a quarter-century while resisting their formal inclusion into the workforce.

‘Act like a model employer’

The Bench noted that the Corporation has no intention of disengaging the respondents until they reach the age of superannuation, yet it has hesitated on the matter of regularisation. “It is expected that the Corporation would act like a model employer in matters concerning such similarly situated employees in the Corporation,” the judges stated.

The court further emphasised that for individuals who have dedicated 25 years to the service of the state, the Corporation should not strictly hide behind mandatory eligibility conditions if they are not essential in nature. The Bench directed the TGSRTC to take a decision “by relaxing the eligibility conditions which are not mandatory in nature, taking into account the circumstances in which the Corporation has continued the engagement of the respondents for the last 25 years”.

The court upheld the lower court’s ruling and maintained that the employees would not be entitled to claim back wages or retrospective service benefits.

Under the court’s direction, the respondents must submit their representation to the Corporation within two weeks. The TGSRTC is then required to review these representations and take a final decision “within a reasonable time,” ensuring that the process follows the law against available sanctioned posts.

The court said it was inclined to go along with the view expressed by the writ Court, “by directing the Corporation to take a decision on the question of regularisation, in accordance with law against the available sanctioned posts and by relaxing the eligibility conditions which are not mandatory in nature, taking into account the circumstances in which the Corporation has continued the engagement of the respondents for the last 25 years”.