High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that need based workers have no legally enforceable right to continue in service once the employer decides that their services are not needed.
Justice Sanjay Dhar further said that the fact that the petitioners were engaged only on casual basis does not entitle them to continue in similar arrangement once the respondents do not have any requirement for their services.
“Thus, the impugned consideration orders passed by the respondents do not deserve any interference by this court. I do not find any merit in these writ petitions. The same are dismissed accordingly, interim direction(s), if any, shall stand vacated”, read the judgment passed by Justice Dhar.
The petitioners were engaged as casual labourers by the respondents in the year 1998. It has been contended that the petitioners approached High Court by way of writ petition bearing SWP No.2757/2015 against their indiscriminate and arbitrary disengagement. The writ petition came to be disposed of by the High Court in terms of order dated 27.04.2017, whereby a direction was issued to the respondents to consider the claim of the petitioners for re-engagement as casual labourers if there is any need.
It has been further contended that the petitioners again invoked writ jurisdiction of court by way of SWP No.2005/2017 after they had obtained certain important documents through RTI. In the writ petition, the petitioners had sought a relief that the respondents should treat them at par with similarly situated persons who have been included in the consolidated list of casual labourers prepared by the respondents. The petitioners had also sought a direction that they should be given the benefit of Cabinet Decision No.99/2007/014 dated 03.06.2014.(Excelsior)
