MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court directed the central government to take steps to fill the vacant posts in Debts Recovery Tribunal in Madurai through regular employment instead of appointing staff on contract basis.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala and Justice L Victoria Gowri passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Debts Recovery Tribunal Madurai Bar Association in 2020.
The deputy solicitor general of India, in a recent hearing, submitted out of 27 vacancies in the sanctioned staff strength, 26 have been filled. Out of the 26, 20 were filled through regular employment and six were appointed on contract basis. Only one post, which fell vacant last month, is yet to be filled, he added.
But the petitioner’s counsel argued the staff, who were appointed on contract basis, are not in a position to cope with the workload. The persons to be appointed on contract basis also have to possess the necessary basic qualification for appointment, he said.
Hearing the submissions, the bench observed the centre should take steps to fill vacancies through regular employment as appointments on contract basis would only be a stop-gap measure. They directed the vacant posts and the posts that were already filled through contract basis, should be filled by regular employment expeditiously.