Temporary employees cannot be replaced by other temporary or contractual employees except through regular appointments.

The five applicants were engaged as Guest Faculty/Lecturers in various disciplines (English, Civil Engineering, Automobile Engineering, and Applied Mathematics) at the Government Polytechnic College, Udhampur

Apprehending their replacement by a fresh set of guest faculty or contractual employees, the applicants filed an Original Application under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985

They sought a directive to restrain the respondents from issuing fresh advertisements for their positions or replacing them with other temporary arrangements

The applicants clarified that they were not seeking regularization or permanent absorption at this stage, but merely protection against replacement by similarly situated temporary staff

1. Whether a temporary, ad hoc, or contractual employee can be replaced by another set of temporary, ad hoc, or contractual employee(s).

2. Whether the applicants are entitled to continue in their positions until regular appointments are made to the posts they currently hold.

one temporary, ad hoc, or contractual employee cannot be replaced by another employee of the same status

This principle is rooted in the doctrine of fairness in public employment, ensuring that temporary arrangements are not arbitrarily terminated merely to appoint another identical temporary arrangement

temporary employees have no vested right to regularization and must yield to candidates appointed through a regular selection process conducted in accordance with the law

The Tribunal observed that the applicants were already discharging their duties in their respective disciplines and only sought protection from being replaced by another similar temporary arrangement

The Tribunal reasoned that since the law prohibits replacing one temporary hand with another, and the applicants were not demanding regularization, their request for continued engagement was legally tenable

The court noted that the respondents’ right to fill the posts via a permanent selection process remains unfettered, but until such regular appointments occur, the current incumbents (the applicants) should not be displaced by a fresh set of guest faculty

It directed the respondents not to replace the applicants with another set of Guest Faculty/Lecturers or any similar temporary or contractual arrangement

this order does not prevent the respondents from filling the posts through a regular selection process, and the applicants shall have no right to continue once such regular appointments are made

No costs were awarded