HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court has recently directed Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments to extend the benefit of regularization of service of the employees concerned by reckoning their services from the date of completion of five years, on or before Nov 25, 1993, for the purposes of their pension and pensionary benefits. The bench, however, made it clear that they were not entitled to actual monetary benefits for the said period, in the form of arrears of pay or allowances.
“As all of them served the state or its instrumentalities for decades together, extending to them the benefit of such service only for the purpose of pension and pensionary benefits can hardly be said to be an onerous burden either on the State or the State exchequer. Having utilized their services all along, the State and its instrumentalities cannot now turn their back on the loyal services rendered by these employees”, the bench observed.
The bench, comprising Justice PV Sanjay Kumar and Justice M Ganga Rao, was disposing of batch petitions filed by the AP government objecting to the order passed by the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal directing the State to regularize the services of the employees concerned (those on nominal muster roll, daily-wage employees or contract basis in the secretariat, heads of departments, municipal corporations and so on) and provide all consequential benefits within a time frame.
The core issue in these cases was as to the scope of regularization of services under GO Ms No.212 issued by the finance department on April 22, 1994. All the employees in these cases were regularized in service under the GO, but they seek benefit of such regularization from earlier dates. After hearing the case and perusing material on record and various judgments of the Supreme Court, the bench pointed out that when no regular exercise was ever undertaken in any department to assess the vacancy position so as to immediately extend the benefit to those covered by GO 212, it was not open to the State to now come forward and say that there were no vacancies as on the date that the employees in question completed five years in service, on or before Nov 25, 1993.
Besides, the question of the State exchequer being saddled with additional expenditure consequent upon such regularisation do not arise, as the relief already granted to some of the employees in the cases on hand was to reckon their services upon completion of five years on or before Nov 25, 1993 only for the purpose of their pension and pensionary benefits. They are not to be given any monetary benefits in the form of arrears of pay or otherwise, the bench opined.
Relying on the judgment of Apex Court in B Srinivasulu case, the bench directed both the state governments to extend the benefit of Srinivasulu to the employees of the present cases from the date of completion of five years in service, on or before Nov 25, 1993, for the purposes of their pension and pensionary benefits.