Vardhaman Choksi And Anr. vs Impresario Entertainment And Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. Anr.
- Court
- Delhi High Court
$~78 & 79
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
# CNR No. DLHC010242682024
+ W.P.(C) 6161/2024
BALA DEVI & ORS. .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Rameshwar Singh Malik,
Sr. Adv. with Mr. Jatin Hooda and Mr.
Jitesh Malik, Advs.
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ANR. .....Respondent
Through: Mr. Puneet Yadav, Sr. PC for
UOI
Mr. Jitendra Kumar Tripathi and Ms. Sonali,
Advs.
# CNR No. DLHC010262572024
+ W.P.(C) 6547/2024
SHAMSHER SINGH RANA & ORS. .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Rameshwar Singh Malik,
Sr. Adv. with Mr. Jatin Hooda and Mr.
Jitesh Malik, Advs.
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Respondent
Through: Mr. Ravi Kant Srivastava, SPC
with Mr. Lovekesh Aggarwal, GP with Mr.
Robert Laishram, Adv. for UOI with Mr.
Pankaj Dhanda (IB)
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. HARI SHANKAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD KUMAR
JUDGMENT (ORAL)
% 31.08.2026
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C. HARI SHANKAR, J.
1. This case is squarely covered by the judgments of the Supreme
1 2
Court in Jaggo v. Union of India , Shripal v. Nagar Nigam , Vinod
3 4
Kumar v. Union of India , Dharam Singh v. State of U.P. and
5
Bhola Nath v. State of Jharkhand , which have been considered by
this Court in its decisions in Pawan Sharma v. Govt. of NCT of
6 7
Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council v. Kalpana Sharma as
well as the subsequent judgment of a Coordinate Bench of this Court,
speaking through Hon’ble the Chief Justice, in Om Prakash Gaur v.
8
Delhi Technological University , which follows the decision in
Pawan Sharma . The judgement of this Court in Pawan Sharma was
specifically affirmed and upheld on merits by the Supreme Court in
9
Govt. of NCT of Delhi v. Pawan Sharma .
2. No detailed allusion to the facts is needed.
10
3. The petitioners were employed by the Intelligence Bureau on
various dates between 1998 and 2003 on daily rated casual basis. They
were holding tasks such as loading/unloading of heavy items, upkeep
of office rooms, disposal of shredded papers and other manual jobs.
They were paid from the office contingency fund of the IB
Headquarters.
1
2024 SCC Online SC 3826
2
2025 SCC OnLine SC 221
3
(2024) 9 SCC 327
4
2025 SCC OnLine SC 1735
5
2026 SCC OnLine SC 129
6
2025 SCC OnLine Del 8313
7
MANU/DE/2899/2026
8
2026 SCC OnLine Del 6224
9
Civil Appeal No. 7837/2026, SLP (C) No. 17750/2026
10
“IB” hereinafter
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4. There is no dispute about the fact that, since the date of their
appointment, they had been working continuously with periodical
renewals of their contracts and artificial breaks between renewals.
Having retained the services of the petitioners for nearly two decades
and more, the IB, in February 2021, decided to avail services such as
11
those being rendered by the petitioner, from the Govt. e-Marketplace
portal. Pending finalization of tender through the GeM portal, the IB
continued to avail the services of the petitioners. The petitioners were,
however, told that they would have to get themselves re-employed
through the contractor via the GeM portal.
5. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioners approached the Tribunal by
way of OA 1349/2021 and OA 1692/2021. They objected to their
services being shifted to the GeM portal and being placed under a
contractor having been directly engaged by the IB for over 20 years.
6. The respondents contended, by way of response before the
Tribunal, that the decision to source the employees to undertake the
work performed by the petitioner through a contractor, via the GeM
portal, was a policy decision of the Government of India, which was
not itself under challenge. It was, therefore, submitted that the
petitioners had no sustainable cause of action as would entitle them to
maintain the OAs.
7. The Tribunal has, by judgment dated 7 November 2023,
disposed of the OAs filed by the petitioners in the following terms:
11
“GeM” hereinafter
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“6. We perused the records of the case and heard the arguments
advanced by both the counsels for the parties. In the instant case,
the applicants have not challenged the decision of Government of
India to introduce the GeM Portal and hiring the services of man-
power as required for intermittent work through the GeM Portal.
The GeM Portal has been introduced under the Rule 149 of GFR of
2017 which stipulates that "The Procurement of Goods and
Services by Ministries or Departments will be mandatory for goods
and services available on the GeM Portal". As this Rule under GFR
has not been challenged by the applicants, any such subsequent
action by any individual Ministry or Department including the
action of the respondents for hiring the man-power through a
private contractor through the GeM Portal cannot be termed as
illegal. As regards to applicability of the ratio of the judgments in
W.P.A No. 692/2022, it is my considered view that W.P.A. No.
692/2022 is related to contractual employees in a Statistical
Institution. The present applicants are not contractual employees
rather they are part time daily wagers. Hence the facts and
circumstances in W.P.A No. 692 of 2022 are distinguishable from
the facts and circumstances of the present case at hand. Hence, the
ratio of the said judgment is not fairly applicable in the instant
case. Similarly, the order dated 05.03.2021 in OA No. 2112/2020
of this Tribunal also relates to engagement of the contractual
applicants therein as the nature of the jobs of the applicants in the
said OA are different from the nature of the work in the present
case, the ratio of judgment in the said case is also not directly
applicable in the instant case. Moreover, the judgments in W.P.A
No. 692/2022 passed by the Calcutta High Court and OA No.
2112/2020 passed by the CAT, PB New Delhi are the judgments in
personum. They are not judgments in rem to be applicable to
across to all category of contractual/ daily wager/ casual labourers.
I do agree with the contention of the learned counsel for the
respondents that the Union Government has prerogative of
adopting the manner of hiring the services of man-power for
intermittent work. The introduction of GeM Portal and hiring of
services of man-power through the GeM Portal have not been
challenged in any Court of Law nor it has been set aside by any
Court. Accordingly, all the Ministries or Departments are bound to
hire the services of man-power for intermittent work through GeM
Portal. Moreover, such hiring ensures the efficiency and economy
in providing services to general public through various Ministries
and Departments.
6.1. Having said that, on humanitarian grounds, the respondents
should look into engaging the present applicants through the
contractor appointed/ engaged through the GeM Portal. It all
depends upon the willingness of the present applicants to work
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under this arrangement and also to the satisfaction of the
contractor, who will be providing the services of man-power to the
respondents. The respondents may direct the contractor appointed
through the GeM Portal to consider engaging the present
applicants, who have rendered the satisfactory services to the
respondents No.2, for providing man-power to respondent No.2.
6.2. Both the OAs are disposed of in above terms with no order
as to costs. Accordingly, all pending MAs are also disposed of.”
8. Aggrieved by the decision of the Tribunal, the petitioners are
before us.
9. We have heard Mr. Rameshwar Singh Malik, learned Senior
Counsel for the petitioners and Mr. Puneet Yadav and Mr. Ravi Kant
Srivastava, learned SPCs for the respondents.
10. Learned Counsel for the parties have broadly reiterated the
contentions advanced by them before the Tribunal.
11. It is not necessary for us to embark into any inquisitorial
exercise in these matters, as the law now stands settled by the
Supreme Court in a plethora of decisions, noted in para 1 supra ,
starting with Jaggo .
12. This Court has, in its judgment in Pawan Sharma, distilled the
essence of these decisions and the propositions which emanate
therefrom, thus:
“15. To our mind, the present petitions stand covered on facts by
the decision in Vinod Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal and Dharam Singh .
We have already set out the propositions emerging from the said
decisions, and do not deem it necessary to repeat them in extenso .
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However, some principles, which are dispositive of the petitions
before us, may be enumerated:
(i) If
(a) the employees are selected by a process
which mirrors regular recruitment, by holding
selections and interviews,
(b) they have worked continuously for several
years, and
(c) they are performing duties essential for the
establishment or organization,
they are entitled to regularization.
(ii) The right to regularization, thus earned, is
substantive in nature.
(iii) In such cases, the initial label under which they
were recruited, whether part-time, or contractual, or casual,
or ad hoc , or temporary, would not matter.
(iv) However, the appointment must not be illegal, mala
fide , surreptitious, or “back door”.
(v) In such circumstances, it is not open to the
respondents to contend that the posts occupied by the
employees were not regular posts. The recurrent nature of
the duties performed by the employees necessitated the
classification of the posts as regular, irrespective the
original label under which the employees may have been
appointed. The initial temporary, ad hoc, contractual, or
casual, nature of their employment stood transformed, in
such cases, “into a scenario demanding fair regularization”.
(vi) The right to regularization would enure, in such
cases, even if the posts against which the employees were
appointed were not sanctioned posts – though, in the
present case, the posts against which the petitioners were
appointed were sanctioned.
16. In the present cases, the petitioners were employed, albeit
on contract basis, pursuant to advertisement. A regular selection
process, therefore, took place, qualifications were prescribed, and
the petitioners fulfilled the qualifications. The appointments were
against sanctioned posts. The nature of duties rendered by the
petitioners, being nursing and para-medical duties, were, by their
very nature, essential and perennial. They could not, therefore, be
regarded as dispensable. The service rendered by the petitioners is
blemish free. There is no complaint against them at any point of
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time. They have continued rendering uninterrupted service for
close to 20 years. The very fact they have been extended
periodically from time to time against sanctioned posts indicates
that there is continued need of their services. Their case, therefore,
in fact, stands on a much better footing than the cases of the
employees/workmen which were before the Supreme Court in
Vinod Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal and Dharam Singh , as the
petitioners were duly qualified, appointed against sanctioned posts
and appointed consequent to a regular recruitment process.
17. These factors, by themselves, entitle the petitioners to be
regularized in the posts against which they were originally
appointed. This is the unmistakable consequence of the decisions
in Vinod Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal and Dharam Singh .
18. Article 141 of the Constitution of India makes the
judgments in Vinod Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal and Dharam Singh
binding on us. Article 144 requires us to act in the aid of the law
declared by the Supreme Court, which would include making all
efforts to ensure that the law declared by the Supreme Court is
implemented with full vigor. We cannot, therefore, craft an
exception into the law declared in Vinod Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal
and Dharam Singh in cases where regular recruitment exercises
were undertaken. Where petitioners had, by dint of their original
appointment and continuous uninterrupted blemish free service on
the post in which they were appointed, earned a right to
regularization, they could not be compelled to participate in any
recruitment exercise. Expressed otherwise, the omission on the
part of the petitioners to participate in the regular recruitment
exercises undertaken by the respondents cannot derogate from their
right to regularization flowing from the facts of their cases and the
law declared in Vinod Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal and Dharam Singh .
19. Any attempt at distinguishing the facts of the present case
from those which stand covered by the judgments in Vinod
Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal and Dharam Singh , to our mind, would be
no less than an affront to the said judgments. We, as a Court lower
in the judicial hierarchy, are least inclined to pursue this perilous
course. The legal position in this regard stands tellingly
underscored in the recent decision of the Supreme Court, rendered
just three days ago, in Rohan Vijay Nahar v State of
12
Maharashtra , from which the following paragraphs merit
reproduction:
“1. The judiciary draws its strength from discipline and
not dominion. The Constitution of India creates courts of
12
(2026) 2 SCC 182
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record that are independent in their spheres and yet binds
them together through a coherent hierarchy. The High
Courts in India possess a wide jurisdiction, but the Supreme
Court of India remains the final interpreter of law. Article
141 of the Constitution of India1 declares that the law laid
down by this Court binds every court in the country.
Further, Article 144 of the Constitution obliges all
authorities, civil and judicial, to act in aid of this Court.
These are not ceremonial recitals. They are the structural
guarantees that convert dispersed adjudication into a
single system that speaks with one voice and commands
public confidence.
2. Judicial discipline is the ethic that turns hierarchy
into harmony. It requires courtesy, restraint, and obedience
to binding precedent even where a judge is personally
unpersuaded. The lawful course is to apply the precedent
and, if needed, record reasons for inviting a larger Bench
to reconsider it. The unlawful and unjust course is to
distinguish in name while disregarding in substance or to
recast issues in order to sidestep a rule that binds. “Stare
decisis et non quieta movere” which means to stand by
decisions and not to disturb settled matters, is not a slogan
but a safeguard of equality before the law . Judges do not sit
to settle scores. The gavel is an instrument of reason and
not a weapon of reprisal. A vindictive stance is
incompatible with the oath to uphold the Constitution and
the law.
3. Judges across our country must remember that
collegiality is the companion virtue of independence and
that a reversal on appeal is not a personal affront but the
ordinary operation of a constitutional hierarchy that corrects
error and settles law. Respect for the senior jurisdiction is
not subservience. It is an acknowledgment that all courts
pursue a common enterprise to do justice according to law .
An Appellate Court reviews and, where necessary, sets
right the decision of the lower court with restraint and
measured language, and the courts below reciprocate
through prompt, reasoned, and transparent compliance.
Courts speak through reasons, and reasons that align with
binding authority preserve both legality and legitimacy of
the judiciary. Articles 141 and 144 of the Constitution make
obedience a constitutional duty and not a matter of
personal preference. A judgment that attempts to resist
binding authority undermines the unity of law, burdens
litigants with avoidable expense and delay, and invites the
perception that outcomes depend on the identity of the
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judge. In a constitutional judiciary, it is the law, as
declared, that brings the conversation to a close. We restate
the simple duty of Courts: apply precedent as it stands and
give effect to appellate directions as they are framed. In
that discipline lies the confidence of litigants and the
credibility of courts.”
We draw sustenance from these passages.
20. In the light of the law that has now been declared in Vinod
Kumar , Jaggo , Shripal and Dharam Singh , it is clear that the
judgment of the Tribunal cannot be upheld.”
(Emphasis supplied)
13. The decision in Pawan Sharma was carried in appeal to the
Supreme Court by way of SLP (C) 17550/2026, which was disposed
of, by the Supreme Court, by the following order dated 14 May 2026:
“1. Delay condoned.
2. Leave granted.
3. Heard learned Counsel for the parties.
4. Though we are not inclined to interfere with the direction
issued by the High Court to regularize the writ petitioners (the
respondents herein) on the posts they were originally appointed, we
deem it appropriate to clarify the direction contained in paragraph
22 of the impugned order so that the seniority of all those regularly
appointed in between the date of initial appointment of the
respondents and the date of judgment is not disturbed.
5. Accordingly, we clarify that the direction contained in
paragraph 22 of the impugned order shall not affect the inter se
seniority of all those who were regularly appointed between the
date of initial appointment of the respondents and the date of the
judgment of the High Court. In effect, the respondents shall be
placed below those regularly appointed candidates in the order of
seniority.
6. With the aforesaid clarification/ modification of the
impugned order, this appeal is disposed of.
7. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.”
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14. Thus, the judgment of this Court in Pawan Sharma stands
affirmatively approved by the Supreme Court, except to the extent of
clarifying that the regularized petitioners would not be entitled to
seniority over others who may have been regularly appointed in the
interregnum.
15. Learned Counsel for the petitioners before us do not seek any
such seniority.
16. Pawan Sharma was thereafter followed by this Court in
Kalpana Sharma , from which we may reproduce the following
paragraphs:
“19. From the decisions in Vinod Kumar, Jaggo, Shripal and
Dharam Singh , the position which emerges is that a right to
regularization arises ipso facto in favour of the employees who
were initially employed after open selection against sanctioned
vacancies and continued on the posts for long periods of time.
These three facts i.e., (i) appointment by open selection, (ii)
appointment against sanctioned vacancies, and (iii) long and
continued discharge of duties on the posts to which they were
appointed, by themselves entitled them to regularization. In fact, in
Jaggo , the Supreme Court even went to the extent of holding that it
was not open to the respondents to contend that the appointments
were not made against sanctioned vacancies.
20. The only other additional consideration which emerges
from the later decisions on the issue is the duties discharged by the
employees concerned. If the appointment is against posts which are
transient in nature, the entitlement to regularization would be of a
somewhat lower degree. If, however, the employees discharge
duties which are basic and essential to the functioning of the
organization, their right to regularization stands sanctified.
21. In such circumstances, there can be no question of the
employees being required to await framing of RRs or any other
such eventualities in order to be regularized. Their right to
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regularization flows as a consequence of long and unblemished
service of the establishment consequent on appointment by open
selection against sanctioned vacancies, for work which is essential
to the functioning of the organization. It is not open to the
establishment after extracting work from such persons for
protracted periods of time to contest their claim to regularization
on the ground that RRs were to be framed or that RRs which had
been framed after the appointment of the respondents, did not
qualify them for regularization.
22. We are not inclined to agree with Ms. Dave's contention
that we should await the outcome of the correspondences between
the NDMC and the UPSC. In para 4(v) of the writ petition, the
NDMC has specifically averred that the UPSC rejected the
proposal for regularization mooted by the NDMC consequent on an
earlier decision of the Tribunal rendered in OA 3597/2017 on the
ground that the appointment of the employees was not in
accordance with the RRs and that, therefore, their services could
not be regularized merely because they had been serving the
Establishment for a long period of time. Reliance was placed by
the UPSC for this opinion, on the judgment of the Constitution
Bench of the Supreme Court in Uma Devi . The view adopted by
the UPSC is in the teeth of the law declared in Jaggo and the
decisions which followed it and reiterated the same position. Uma
Devi has been considered in all these decisions and the Supreme
Court has consistently held that Uma Devi , which was intended to
be a beneficial decision, aimed at curbing back door appointment,
has been weaponized and used as a tool to continue persons on
contractual and ad hoc basis for years at a stretch without
regularizing their services. Such a practice not only amounts to
unfair labour practice but also violates Article 21 of the
Constitution of India. As the UPSC has, in a similar case, refused
to recommend regularization of the employees concerned, we are
of the opinion that no useful purpose would be served by awaiting
the reply of the UPSC even if NDMC has been communicating
with the UPSC in that regard.
23. Besides, once the right of the respondents to regularization
stands crystalized by, as on date, seven judgments of the Supreme
Court, all of which are consistent with each other, it would be a
travesty of justice and grossly unfair to the respondents to allow
their cases to continue to remain in suspended animation.
24. It is true that in some earlier orders, we had issued notice
without disposing of the matters, keeping in mind the fact that
against earlier decisions passed by us, appeals had been preferred
before the Supreme Court which had issued notice thereon and, in
some cases, directed, as an interim measure, that the employees
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before it in those cases be not removed from the posts which were
held by them. In view of the fact that the issue was sub judice
before the Supreme Court in some cases, we had refrained from
passing any final decisions in the writ petitions before us.
25. Ms. Dave predictably draws our attention to this fact.
26. After that, however, the same position had been reiterated
by the Supreme Court twice, firstly, in Bhola Nath and thereafter
in Pawan Kumar , rendered by two different Division Benches of
the Supreme Court. Pawan Sharma expressly reproduces and
relies on Jaggo .
27. Once the Supreme Court has made its view thus clear, we,
as a Court hierarchically lower on the judicial ladder, are bound to
decide the lis before us in terms of the law declared by the
Supreme Court.
28. Besides in view of the decisions in Jaggo, Shripal,
Dharam Singh, Bhola Nath, Vinod Kumar and Pawan Kumar
and the judgment of this Court in Pawan Sharma , we find no error
whatsoever in the view adopted by the Tribunal.
29. However, we clarify that the respondents would be entitled
to exactly the same benefits which were granted to the petitioners
in Pawan Sharma, i.e., to be regularised prospectively with
however, the benefit of fixation of pay, seniority and continuity of
service from the date of initial appointment but without any back
wages.”
17. A Coordinate Bench of this Court has, in Om Prakash Gaur ,
speaking through the Hon’ble the Chief Justice, followed the decision
in Pawan Sharma. The relevant paragraphs from the decision of the
Coordinate Bench in Om Prakash Gaur may be reproduced thus:
“24. A Division Bench of this Court in Pawan Sharma (supra),
referring to Jaggo (supra), Shripal (supra) and Dharam
Singh (supra) has held that in the said case since the employees
were selected by a process which mirrors regular recruitment and
they had worked continuously for several years and have been
performing duties essential for the establishment or organisation,
hence they were entitled to be regularised. It is to be noticed that
in Pawan Sharma (supra) as well the advertisement pursuant to
which the employees were initially engaged was for a walk-in
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interview only, as is the case with the employees in these two
appeals. Para 15 of the report in Pawan Sharma (supra) is
extracted herein below:
“15. To our mind, the present petitions stand covered on
facts by the decision in Vinod Kumar, Jaggo, Shripal and
Dharam Singh. We have already set out the propositions
emerging from the said decisions, and do not deem it
necessary to repeat them in extenso. However, some
principles, which are dispositive of the petitions before us,
may be enumerated:
(i) If
(a) the employees are selected by a process
which mirrors regular recruitment, by
holding selections and interviews ,
(b) they have worked continuously for
several years, and
(c) they are performing duties essential for
the establishment or organization, they are
entitled to regularization.
(ii) The right to regularization, thus earned, is
substantive in nature.
(iii) In such cases, the initial label under which
they were recruited, whether part-time, or
contractual, or casual, or ad hoc, or temporary,
would not matter.
(iv) However, the appointment must not be
illegal, mala fide, surreptitious, or “back door”.
(v) In such circumstances, it is not open to the
respondents to contend that the posts occupied by
the employees were not regular posts. The recurrent
nature of the duties performed by the employees
necessitated the classification of the posts as
regular, irrespective the original label under which
the employees may have been appointed. The initial
temporary, ad hoc, contractual, or casual, nature of
their employment stood transformed, in such cases,
“into a scenario demanding fair regularization”.
(vi) The right to regularization would enure, in
such cases, even if the posts against which the
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employees were appointed were not sanctioned
posts - though, in the present case, the posts against
which the petitioners were appointed were
sanctioned.”
25. The Division Bench in Pawan Sharma (supra), has also
held that the right of regularisation in such cases would accrue
even if the posts against which the employees were initially
appointed were not sanctioned posts. The final direction issued
in Pawan Sharma (supra) by the Division Bench of this Court is
as under:
“22. The petitioners are, therefore, directed to be
regularized against the posts on which they were originally
appointed, irrespective of the labels governing such
appointment. They would be entitled to fixation of pay
treating them as having been regularly appointed ab initio.
They shall also be entitled to all other benefits which would
follow, except for back wages.”
26. In view of the detailed discussion of the entire law
regarding entitlement of regularisation of a contractual/ad-
hoc/temporary employee made by the coordinate Bench of this
Court in Pawan Sharma (supra), we are of the opinion that having
regard to the facts of the instant case as well, the employees are
entitled to be considered for regularisation of their services. Their
long continuance of service with the University clearly indicates
that ever since their initial appointment they have been performing
functions and duties, the requirement of which is perennial and
accordingly, they are entitled to be regularised in service.
27. The judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in Pawan
Sharma ( supra ), was challenged in Civil Appeal No. 7837/2026 ,
which had arisen out of SLP(C) No. 17550/2026. The said Civil
Appeal, vide order dated 14-5-2026 passed by the Supreme Court,
has been disposed of, maintaining the order of this Court with a
clarification that the employees to be regularised pursuant to the
order of this Court shall be placed below those employees who
were regularly appointed candidates in the order of seniority. The
directions issued for regularising the services of the employees
in Pawan Sharma (supra) were, thus, maintained by the Supreme
Court.”
18. Legally, therefore, the issue is now crystallised by the above
decisions.
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19. The petitioners, undisputedly, were employed directly by the
IB without any intervening contractor or any GeM portal. Their
services were periodically extended for over 20 years with artificial
breaks. They were rendering services which were unquestionably
routine services required to be rendered on day-to-day basis. The fact
that their services were continued for so long clearly indicates that
their services were not dispensable. It is nobody’s case that the
appointment of the petitioners was illegal or through backdoor or for
any ulterior considerations.
20. We are, preambularly, a socialist democracy. Our
Constitutional goal of socialism would require us to ensure that the
lowest of the low obtains justice, and is not unnecessarily victimised.
The petitioners before us are casual labourers and Group D contractual
employees who have, without demur or complaint, been serving the
IB for decades. Uprooting them from their employment at this stage
would go against the very fundamentals of the socialist fabric on
which the edifice of our Constitution rests.
21. Following the judgments of this Court in Pawan Sharma and
Kalpana Sharma, as well as a recent judgment of the Coordinate
Bench of this Court in Om Prakash Gaur , these writ petitions are
allowed and the impugned orders are quashed and set aside.
22. The petitioners are, therefore, directed to be regularised on the
posts held by them. They would be entitled to the benefit of
regularisation from the date of their initial appointments which would
also include the benefits of pay fixation and the like but would not be
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:AJIT
KUMAR
Signing Date:08.09.2026
18:19:09
W.P.(C) 6161/2024 and connected matter Page 15 of 16
entitled to any additional back wages beyond the wages which have
already been paid to them. They would also be entitled to parity of pay
with others who may be rendering the duties being rendered by them
on regular basis. They would, however, not be entitled to any seniority
over persons who may be recruited, during the period their services
have continued on contract basis, to similar posts on regular basis by
the IB.
23. The writ petitions are allowed to the aforesaid extent.
C. HARI SHANKAR, J.
VINOD KUMAR, J.
AUGUST 31, 2026 /aky/dsn
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:AJIT
KUMAR
Signing Date:08.09.2026
18:19:09
W.P.(C) 6161/2024 and connected matter Page 16 of 16