The Orissa high court has set aside a government order rejecting a contractual college employee’s regularisation, saying a welfare state grounded in constitutional values cannot adopt an “apathetic and callous” stand to deny the basic rights of temporary employees who have served for years.
The court said no semblance of rights is available to the petitioner despite continued employment. “The rise of the gig economy has led to an increase in precarious employment arrangements, often characterised by a lack of benefits, job security, and fair treatment,” said Justice Murahari Sri Raman in his judgement delivered on Monday. Justice Raman said when public sector entities engage in the misuse of temporary contracts, it mirrors the detrimental trends observed in the gig economy and also sets a concerning precedent that can erode public trust in governmental operations. “Such stand by the state is opposed to constitutional values as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to life and dignity.”
“The state cannot escape its constitutional duties by citing procedural omissions that occurred at the time of initial engagement decades ago. The government argued Patra’s recruitment did not follow the local employment exchange procedures and bypassed the reservation policies mandated under the Orissa Reservation of Vacancies Act, 1975. He cited the case of Anama Charan Nayak, a night watchman at the same college paid from the same self-financing fund, whose services were regularised in 2016 under judicial directions. The court said that denying Patra similar treatment constituted unconstitutional discrimination, violating the principles of equality enshrined in Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
The employer is responsible for complying with recruitment and reservation policies at the time of hiring, and it cannot use its own past administrative failures as a shield to deny an employee’s livelihood in the twilight of their career,” the court said.
