tion Civil No 112 of 1990 etc
Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India PS Poti
EMS Anam VJ Francis and MN PopIi for the Petitioners
TS Krishnamurthy Iyer G Viswanatha Iyer AS Nambi ar
KR Kurup
section Balakrishanan Vijay Kumar TT Kunhi Kannan
section Vasudevan and PK Manohar for the Respond ents
564 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by AHMADI J
In special leave petitions leave granted
An autonomous body called the Kerala Water and Waste Water Authority was constituted with effect from 1st April 1984 under Section 31 of the Kerala Water and Waste Water Ordinance 1984 No 14 of 1984 which Ordinance was brought into force wef
1st March 1984
This ordinance was re placed by similar Ordinances issued from time to time the last being Ordinance No 27 of 1986 which was in turn re placed by the Kerala Water Supply and Sewerage Act 1986 Act No 14 of 1986 hereinafter called the Act  Sec tion 13 whereof provides that it shall be deemed to have come into force on 1st March 1984
This Act besides pro viding for the establishment of an autonomous authority to be called the Kerala Water Authority makes provision for the development and regulation of water supply and waste water collection and disposal and for matters connected therewith
There is no dispute that the functions which were carried on by the Public Health Engineering Department PHED were transferred to the autonomous body on the enact ment of the Ordinance No 14 of 1984
After the enactment of the Act every person working in the PHED became the employ ee of the Kerala Water Authority for short the Authority  by virtue of Section 191 of the Act which reads as under Transfer of employees to the Authority Save as otherwise provided in this section every person who was employed in the Public Health Engineering Department of the Government shall on and from the appointed day become an employee of the Authority and shall hold his office or service therein by the same tenure at the same remuneration and upon the same terms and conditions and with the same rights and privileges as to pension gratuity and other matters as he would have held the same on the appointed day if this Act had not come into force and shall continue to do so until his employment in the Authority is terminated or until his remuneration or other terms and conditions of service are revised or altered by the Authority under or in pursuance of any law or in accordance with any provision which for the time being governs his service Provided that nothing contained in this sub section shall apply to an employee in the cadres of the Administrative  565 Officers Financial Assistants Divisional Accounts Typists and Stenographers who by notice in writing given to the Government and the Authority within such time as the Govern ment may by general or special order specify intimates his intention of not becoming an employee of the Authority Provided further than an employee referred to in the preced ing proviso shall continue to be an employee under the Government and shall be provided elsewhere in any post or other service under the Government
 Sub sections 3 and 6 of Section 19 make it clear that such transfer of service shall not entitle the employee to claim any compensation under the nor shall it amount to retrenchment or abolition of post under any extant rule regulation or order applicable to Government servants
Thus the erstwhile staff of the PHED was by the thrust of Section 191 transferred on the establishment of the Authority
This would naturally concern those persons only who were in the employment of the PHED before the establishment of the Authority wef
1st April 1984
The staff members employed by the Authority after its constitution were naturally appointed under the provisions of the concerned statute
Since the Act has retrospective effect reference may be made to Section 81 of the Act which reads thus Appointment of officers and staff Subject to the provi sions of sub section 2 the Authority may appoint for the purpose of enabling it to carry out its powers duties and functions under this Act a Secretary and such other offi cers and staff as may be required against posts duly sanc tioned by it Provided that the Authority shall obtain the previous ap proval of the Government for the creation of post above the rank of the Executive Engineer
 By virtue of Section 83 except as provided by sub sec tions 1  2 the appointment and conditions of service of the officers and employees of the Authority are to be governed by rules made by the Government from time to time
Although the Act is deemed to have come into force wef
1st March
1984 Section 69 became effective 566 from the date of publication of the Act in the Gazette ie 4th August 1986
That section reads as follows Amendment of Act 19 of 1970 With effect from the date of publication of this Act in the Gazette the Kerala Public Service Commission Additional functions as respects certain Corporations and Companies Act 1970 19 of 1970 shall have effect subject to the following amendment namely in clause a of Section 2 the words and figures or the Kerala Water Authority established under section 3 of the Kerala Water Supply and Sewerage Act 1986 shall be added at the end
 Even though Act 19 of 1970 stood so amended by the force of Section 69 actual effect could be given after issuance of Notification No GO MS No 3888P  ARD dated 30th July 1988 on which date item LIII was added to the rele vant rules as Amendment of the Rules In the Kerala Public Service Com mission consultation by Corporation and Companies Rules 1971 in Clause d of rule 2 after item LII the follow ing item shall be added namely LIII The Kerala Water Authority
 This amendment was considered necessary with a view to bringing the Authority within the purview of PSC so that it may seek the advice of that body on matters relating to the methods of recruitment of its employees etc
From the above discussion it becomes clear that the employees of the Authority can be divided into four distinct groups viz i those who were in the employment of PHED before the constitution of the Authority and were trans ferred to the Authority ii those whom the Authority em ployed between 1st April
1984 and 4th August 1986 iii those who were appointed between 4th August 1986 and 30th July 1988 and iv those who were appointed after 30th July 1988
The petitioners in this batch of matters are serving in different capacities such as cleaners pump operators draftsmen drivers etc
They claim that they were appointed through the Employment Ex 567 change between 1981 and 1988
They contend that they have been compelled to approach this Court as their services are likely to be terminated as has been done in the case of a few of their colleagues
They contend that till the issuance of the notification dated 30th July
1988 amending the concerned PSC rule amendment extracted earlier there was no question of the Authority consulting the PSC and there fore appointments made prior to that date cannot be termed as irregular or unauthorised and cannot be determined on that ground
They contend that as in a few cases the High Court of Kerala failed to appreciate this true legal posi tion and refused to grant relief to employees whose services were threatened the Managing Director of the Authority issued instructions to his subordinates to terminate the services of similarly placed employees thereby compelling the present petitioners to approach this Court so that all such employees are uniformly governed by this Court s order
They point out that in Civil Appeals Nos 472 to 478 of 1988 arising from the High Court decision
and Writ Petitions Civil Nos 857 and 1135 of 1987 this Court passed the following order on 1st February 1988 Special leave granted
Heard counsel for the parties
We are of the view that in the facts and circumstances of these cases the services of such of the appellants as pos sess the requisite qualifications should be regulated in accordance with the Kerala Public Service Commission Addi tional functions as respects certain Corporations and Compa nies Act 1970 and until such regularisation is made no appointment on similar posts from outside be made
If there be any excess employees now in service employment it will be open to the Authority to terminate their services on condition that as and when vacancies arise they shall first be considered for appointment keeping the direction indicat ed above in view
Recruitments in future will however be in accordance with the Kerala Public Service Commission Additional functions as respects certain Corporations and Companies Act 1970 and the Kerala Water Supply and Sewerage Act 1986
 Thereafter in another batch of special leave petitions Nos 4385 to 4387 of 1988 this Court passed the following order on 24th March 1988 568 Heard learned counsel for parties
The only direction which we can give in the facts and circumstances of the case will be in case after all those who have been regularly selected by the Public Service Commission are appointed and thereaf ter any vacancies are left the same should be given to those who like the petitioners have already been in serv ice taking into consideration their seniority
Every step should be taken by the Water Authorities to regularise the services of such people who can be appointed under our direction as indicated above
There will be no further direction in this case
The other person who may be thrown out of employment on account of the direction of the Water Authority which is impugned before us may appear before the Public Service Commission in the next examination The State of Kerala has informed us that age bar would be waived
The petitions are disposed of accordingly
 The Authority treated these orders as confined to the work men who had filed the proceedings and did not extend the ratio to others similarly placed
Not only that the Author ity contend the petitioners placed different interpreta tions on the aforesaid orders and continued to terminate the services of the employees
Another group of writ petitions Nos
525527528 and 503 of 1988 came up before this Court on 28th November 1988 when this Court passed the following Order Mr Krishna Murthy Iyer appearing for the Kerala Water Authority states that the claims of the petitioners can be divided into three categories namely 1 those who had been employed by Public Health Engineering Department before the Kerala Water Authority was constituted 2 those who get employed between 141984 and 1986 and 3 the persons appointed after 1986
The Kerala Water Authority is given three months  time to examine the individual cases of these groups and take its decision accordingly
We direct the Authority to place its conclusions before the Court before giving effect to them
Status quo as on today will continue until further orders
 The grievance of the petitioners is that no action was taken by the Authority within the time allowed nor has it taken any action till today to implement the said order
The petitioners also contend that the employees are compelled to knock at the doors of different courts as the Authority continues to terminate the services of the employees 569 not with standing the aforequoted orders passed by this Court
Mr PS Poti the learned counsel for the petition ers therefore made a fervent appeal that this Court should pass an order laying down guidelines for the regularisation of the services of not only the petitioners but also all others similarly placed so that these low income group employees are not required to knock at the doors of differ ent courts to protect themselves from the threatened arbi trary action of the Authority terminating their services
In other words he wants this Court to formulate a scheme for the regularisation of the services of all similarly placed employees which would put an end to all pending cases and future cases which are bound to arise if the Authority continues its present policy
The claims made by the employees in this group of cases is contested mainly on the plea that their tenure and serv ice conditions were regulated by Rule 9ai of the Kerala State and Subordinate Service Rules 1958 hereinafter called the Rules  which were statutory in character and were therefore binding on the Authority as well as the employees
It is contended that the employees belonging to different categories were appointed on different dates by the PHED prior to 1st April 1984 under this rule and therefore their services could only be regulated thereun der
After the autonomous Authority was constituted wef
1st April 1984 on the enactment of Ordinance 14 of 1984 the Authority passed a Resolution No 8 on 25th April 1984 adopting the aforesaid Rules and hence all appointments made after 1st April 1984 also came to governed by Rule 9ai of the Rules till Section 69 of the Act came into force wef
4th August 1986 and not 30th July 1988 when the relevant rule was amended by the introduction of item LIII referred to earlier
Appointments made after 4th August 1986 are clearly subject to the requirement of Section 69 of the Act and the Authority cannot act in contravention there of
Had it not been for Court orders restraining the Author ity from terminating their services the services of all those who were governed by Rule 9ai would have been terminated on the expiry of 180 days
The text of that rule may be noticed at this stage Where it is necessary in the public interest owing to an emergency which has arisen to fill immediately a vacancy in a post borne on the cadre of a service class or category and there would be undue delay in making such appointment in accordance with these rules and the Special Rules the appointing authority may appoint a person otherwise than in accordance with the said rules temporarily
 570 The first proviso is not relevant for our purpose but reli ance was placed on the second proviso which reads as under Provided further that a person appointed under this clause by direct recruitment to a post other than teaching post and a post covered by the proviso to clause iii of rule 10b shall not be allowed to continue in such post for a period exceeding three months ie one hundred eighty days The rule further requires that a person appointed under clause i should be replaced as soon as possible by a member of the service or an approved candidate qualified to hold the post under the said rules
Such replacement must take place in the order of seniority based on length of temporary service in the unit
It is therefore the case of the Authority that appointments made under this rule were purely temporary not to exceed three months and had to be terminated on the expiry of the said period and it was not open to the Authority to continue their services even by reappointment unless fresh candidates were not available for reappointment through employment exchange
Therefore had it not been for the restraint orders issued by different Courts the Authority contends it was under an obligation to act in conformity with the above rules
However as regards those who had joined service prior to 1st April
1984 in different categories the Authority passed a resolution on 30th January 1987 to the following effect Resolved to recommend the Government the regularisation of the service of the employees recruited in the erstwhile PHED and still working in the Kerala Water Authority
 The Government it seems has not taken any decision in this behalf as yet
Since the counter filed on behalf of the State Government is silent on this point we inquired of the learned counsel for the State to clarify the position
We were told that since the Authority was an autonomous body it was free to regularise the services of such employees if it so desired without the concurrence of the State Government
While admitting the fact that appointments were made from the lists submitted by various District Employment Officers the Authority contends that as the appointments were gov erned by Rule 9ai they could not ensure beyond three months and the termination of their employment did not fall within the ambit of retrenchment  as understood under the 571 
In any case even otherwise the application of that law is specifically excluded by Section 193 of the Act and hence the benefit of that law cannot be extended to the employees of the Authority
The contention that the action of the Authority to terminate the services is violative of Article 14 is repelled on the plea that acting in conformity with a statutory Rule 9ai can never be branded as arbitrary
Lastly it is contended that the Authority was not directed to apply this Court s orders passed in some of the proceedings referred to earlier to all similarly situated employees as the Court s orders were based on the fact and circumstances of these cases  and were not intended to be of general application
With refer ence to the order of 24th March 1988 it is said that the Authority has moved a review application which is pending
The Authority contends that as there is no infringement of any fundamental right the writ petitions brought under Article 32 of the Constitution cannot be sustained
The above is the stand taken by the Authority
The State Govern ment has by and large supported this stand and therefore we need not restate the contentions raised in their counter
The respondents therefore contend that the employees are not entitled to any relief whatsoever and the appealspeti tions deserve to be dismissed with costs
The question of regularisation in service must be exam ined keeping in mind the historical as well as the constitu tional perspectives
During the colonial rule industrial growth in the country was tardy and most of the large sized industries were controlled by British interests
These establishments employed Indian labour on wages far below the sustenance levels
Men women and even children were required to work for long hours in thoroughly unhygien ic conditions
Because of large scale unemployment there was a surplus labour market which the employers could and did exploit
This virtually forced the labour to accept employ ment on terms unilaterally dictated by the employers
The relationship between the employer and the employee being purely contractual the hire and fire rule governed
Those were the days of laissez faire when contractual rights were placed above human rights
The concepts of dignity of labour and fair remuneration for work done were wholly alien
The workers had to work in appalling conditions and at low wages with no job security
After we attained independence the pace of industrial growth accelerated
Our Constitution makers were aware of the hardships and insecurity faced by the working classes
The Preamble of our Constitution obligates the State to secure to all its citizens social and economic justice besides political justice
By the 42nd Amendment the Pream 572 ble of the Constitution was amended to say that ours will be a socialistic democracy
In furtherance of these promises certain fundamental rights were engrafted in Part 111 of the Constitution
The Constitution guarantees equality  abhors discrimination prohibits and penalises forced labour in any form whatsoever and extends protection against exploitation of labour including child labour
After extending these guarantees amongst others the Constitution makers proceed ed to chart out the course for the governance of the country in Part IV of the Constitution entitled Directive Princi ples of State Policy 
These principles reflect the hopes and aspirations of the people
Although the provisions of this part are not enforceable by any court the principles laid down therein are nevertheless fundamental in the gover nance Of the country and the State is under an obligation to apply them in making laws
The principles laid down therein
therefore define the Objectives and goals which the State must endeavour to achieve over a period of time
Therefore whenever the State is required to make laws It must do so consistently with these principles with a view to secur ing social and economic freedom so essential for the estab lishment of an egalitarian society
This part therefore mandates that the State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by minimising the inequalities in income and eliminating inequalities in status facilities and opportu nities by directing its policy towards securing amongst others the distribution of the material resources of the community to subserve the common good by so operating the economic system as not to result in concentration of wealth and by making effective provision for securing the right to work as also to public assistance in cases of unemployment albeit within the limits of its economic capacities
There are certain other provisions which enjoin on the State certain duties eg securing to all workers work a living wage just and humane conditions of work a decent standard of life
participation in management etc which are aimed at improving the lot of the working classes
Thus the Pream ble promises socio economic justice the fundamental rights confer certain justiciable socio economic rights and the Directive Principles fix the socio economic goals which the State must strive to attain
These three together constitute the core and conscience of the Constitution
India is a developing country
It has a vast surplus labour market
Large scale unemployment offers a matching opportunity to the employer to exploit the needy
Under such market conditions the employer can dictate
I his terms of employment taking advantage of the absence of the bargaining power in the other
The unorganised job seeker is left with no option but to accept employment on take it or 573 leave it terms offered by the employer
Such terms of em ployment offer no job security and the employee is left to the mercy of the employer
Employers have betrayed an in creasing tendency to employ temporary hands even on regular and permanent jobs with a view to circumventing the protec tion offered to the working classes under the benevolent legislations enacted from time to time One such device adopted is to get the work done through contract labour It is in this backdrop that we must Consider the request for regularisation in service
Before we deal with the case on hand it would be advan tageous to refer to some of the decision bearing on the question of regularisation
In Smt
PK Narayani  Ors
vs State of Kerala  Ors the petition ers who had been serving as employees of the State of Kerala or its public sector undertakings for the past few years challenged the action of the employer in terminating their services to make room for the candidates selected by the Kerala Public Service Commission
This Court directed that the petitioners and all others similarly placed should be allowed to appear at the next examination that the Public Service Commission may hold without raising the age bar till then the petitioners and others may be continued in service provided there are vacancies
This clarified the Court will not confer any right on the employees to contin ue in service or of being selected by the Commission other wise than in accordance with the extant rules and regula tions
These directions were given to resolve what this Court described as a human problem which has more than one facet  Again in Dr AK Jain  Ors
v Union of India  Ors  the services of ad hoc Assistant Medical Officers who were initially appointed for six months but were continued for periods ranging upto four years were sought to be terminated to accommodate the candidates se lected by the Union Public Service Commission
The petition ers claimed that their services should be regularised and their seniority should be fixed from the date of their initial entry in service as ad hoc appointees
In the coun ter the Union of India contended that ad hoc  appointments were made by the General Managers of the Zonal Railways to tide over temporary shortages of doctors and their tenures were extended till regular selection was made by the UPSC and appointments were made by the President of India
Since the appointing authority was the President of India such ad hoc appointments by the General Managers of the Zonal Rail ways could not be regularised
It was further contended that the ad hoc appointees were granted age relaxation and were asked to appear at two special selections based on interview alone held by the 574 UPSC in 1982 and 1985
The petitioners were those ad hoc appointees who had either failed to avail of the special benefit of selection or had appeared and failed to qualify
In the circumstances it was contended that they could not be regularised in service
Notwithstanding the same this Court directed regularisation of services of all doctors appointed upto October 1 1984 in consultation with UPSC on the evalu ation of their work and conduct based on the confidential reports in respect of the period subsequent to October 1 1982
Such regularisation was to be from the dates from which they were continuously working
The services of those not regularised were allowed to be terminated
The petitions of those appointed after October 1 1984 were however dis missed
In the case of Daily rated Casual Labour employed under P  T Department through Bhartiya Dak Tar Mazdoor Manch vs Union of India  Ors this Court while dealing with the question of their absorption referred to the State s obligations referred to as an individual s rights under Part IV of the Constitution and observed as under Of those rights the question of security of work is of utmost importance
If a person does not have the feeling that he belongs to an organization engaged in production he will not put forward his best effort to produce more
That sense of belonging arises only when he feels that he will not be turned out of employment the next day at the whim of the management
It is for this reason it is being repeatedly observed by those who are in charge of economic affairs of the countries in different parts of the world that as far as possible security of work should be assured to the employees so that they may contribute to the maximisation of produc tion
It is again for this reason that managements and the governmental agencies in particular should not allow workers to remain as casual labourers or temporary employees for an unreasonable long period of time This Court emphasised that unless a sense of belonging arises the worker will not give his best and consequently production will suffer which in turn will result in economic loss to the nation
This Court therefore directed the department to prepare a scheme on a rational basis for absorbing those who have worked for a continuous period of one year
575 Tested on the above and keeping in mind the constitu tional philosophy adverted to earlier we may now proceed to consider the main plank of the contention raised by the Authority
But before we do so we may dispose of the non controversial part of the case
From the pleadings in this case one thing that clearly emerges is that the Authority had taken a decision on 30th January 1987 to regularise the services of those who were employed by the erstwhile PHED and whose services stood transferred to the Authority by the thrust of the statute
According to the resolution extracted earlier the Authority recommended to the State Government that the services of the employees recruited in the erstwhile PHED and who continued to work on the establishment of the Authority should be regularised
The learned counsel for the State Government contended that since these employees were now borne on the establishment of the Authority on the statutory transfer of their services it was for the Authority to regularise their services and it was quite unnecessary to make a recommenda tion to the State Government in that behalf
To put it differently the stand of the State Government through its counsel is that the question of regularisation of the serv ices of ex PHED employees now borne on the establishment of the Authority is exclusively within the purview of the Authority and the State Government has no role to play
That means it was wholly unnecessary on the part of the Authority to make the recommendation it made by the resolution of 30th January 1987 to the State Government for the regularisation of the ex PHED employees serving on its establishment on that date
To us the position therefore appears crystal clear that it is for the Authority and the Authority alone to regularise the services of such employees without waiting for a nod from the State Government
The sphinx like silence on the part of the State Government for now over three years from the date of the resolution is indeed disturbing and betrays total lack of concern for this pressing human prob lem
The second batch of workers comprise those who were appointed between 1st April
1984 and 4th August 1986 by the Authority itself
Under section 81 of the Act the power to appoint the Secretary and other officers and staff members vests in the Authority
Only when a post above the rank of an Executive Engineer is to be created that the sanction of the State Government becomes necessary under the proviso
Sub section 2 to which sub section 1 is subject expects the Authority to seek the previous sanction of the Government if it desires to employ a servant of the Central or State Government on deputation and not otherwise
It is therefore clear beyond any manner of doubt 576 that the power to appoint the staff members with whom we are concerned solely vests in the Authority
Since the Act is brought into force wef
1st March 1984 the question of regularisation of the services of staff members appointed after that date must be examined with reference to the power found in section 81 of the Act
However the contention of the Authority is based on Rule 9ai of the Rules which it claims to have adopted under Resolution No 8 dated 25th April
The Authority contends that by the thrust of this rule the appointments were limited to 180 days only and since the said rules had statutory flavour the Authority was bound to act in accordance therewith
We have extracted the relevant part of this rule earlier
since these rules were framed in exercise of power conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution they are undoubtedly statu tory in character but Mr Poti was right in his contention that they do not retain that character in their application to the staff members of the Authority since they have been adopted by the Authority under a resolution
These rules would undoubtedly be statutory in character in their appli cation to the members of the Kerala Subordinate services for whom they were enacted but when any other authority adopts them by a resolution for regulating the services of its staff the rules do not continue to remain statutory in their application to the staff of that Authority
They are like any other administrative rules which do not have statu tory force
It was not contended as indeed it could not That these rules derive statutory force from section 64 or 65 of the Act
Section 64 confers the rule making power on the State while section 65 empowers the Authority to make regulations with the previous approval of the Government
It is nobody s case that these rules were adopted after obtain ing the previous approval of the Government
If that be so
we must accept Mr Poti s submission that these rule their application to the staff members of the Authority appointed after 1 st April 1984 have no statutory flavour or force
Now to the text of Rule 9ai of the Rules
It empowers the appointing authority to appoint a person temporarily otherwise than in accordance with the rule if i it is necessary in public interest and ii where an emergency has arisen to fill any particular post which has fallen vacant immediately
In the present case it is diffi cult to say that all appointments made after 1st April 1984 were required to be filled immediately because of an emergency of the type contemplated by the said rule
On the contrary it seems appointments were routinely made in purported exercise of power conferred by this rule
The proviso on which reliance is placed  which we have extract ed earlier
merely states that ordinarily such appointments will be of those persons who 577 possess the requisite qualifications for the post
If any person who does not possess the requisite qualifications is appointed under the said clause he will be liable to be replaced by a qualified person
Clause iii of Rule 9 states that a person appointed under clause i shall as soon as possible be replaced by a member of the service or an approved candidate qualified to hold the post
Clause e of Rule 9 however provided for regularisation of service of any person appointed under clause i of sub rule a if he had completed continuous service of two years on December 22 1973 notwithstanding anything contained in the rules
This is a clear indication that in the past the Government also considered it just and fair to regularise the services of those who had been in continuous service for two years prior to the cut off date
The spirit underlying this treat ment clearly shows that the Government did not consider it just fair or reasonable to terminate the services of those who were in employment for a period of two or more years prior to the cut off date
This approach is quite consistent with the spirit of the rule which was intended to be invoked to serve emergent situations which could not brook delay
Such appointments were intended to be stop gap temporary appointments to serve the stated purpose and not long term ones
The rule was not intended to fill a large number of posts in the service but only those which could not be kept vacant till regular appointments were made in accordance with the rules
But once the appointments continued for long the services had to be regularised if the incumbent possessed the requisite qualifications as was done by sub rule e
Such an approach alone would be consistent with the constitutional philosophy adverted to earlier
Even otherwise the rule must be so interpreted if the language of the rule permits as will advance this philosophy of the Constitution
If the rule is so interpreted it seems clear to us that employees who have been working on the establish ment since long and who possess the requisite qualifica tions for the job as obtaining on the date of their employ ment must be allowed to continue on their jobs and their services should be regularised
It is unfair and unreasona ble to remove people who have been rendering service since sometime as such removal has serious consequences
The family of the employee which has settled down and accommo dated its needs to the emoluments received by the bread winner will face economic ruination if the job is suddenly taken away
Besides the precious period of early life devoted in the service of the establishment will be wholly wasted and the incumbent may be rendered age barred  for securing a job elsewhere
It is indeed unfair to use him generate hope and a feeling of security in him attune his family to live within his earnings and then suddenly to throw him out of job
Such behaviour would be an 578 affront to the concept of job security and would run counter to the constitutional philosophy particularly the concept of right to work in Article 41 of the Constitution
There fore if we interpret Rule 9ai consistently with the spirit and philosophy of the Constitution which it is permissible to do without doing violence to the said rule it follows that employees who are serving on the establish ment for long spells and have the requisite qualifications for the job should not be thrown out but their services should be regularised as far as possible
Since workers belonging to this batch have worked on their posts for reasonably long spells they are entitled to regularisation in service
The third and fourth batches concern workers who were appointed between 4th August 1986 and 30th July 1988 and after 30th July 1988 respectively
Their appointments would be governed by Section 69 which became effective from 4th August 1986
By virtue of this section the Kerala Public Service Additional Functions as respect certain Corporations and Companies Act 1970 19 of 1970 came to be amended with effect from 4th August 1968 on which date it came to be published in the Gazette
Thereby in clause a of section 2 the Kerala Water Authority came to be added
In law therefore the need to consult the PSC had arisen
True it is that the consequential notification amending the 1971 Rules was issued on 30th July 1988
But on that account we do not think it would be proper to treat them differently
We think it advisable to treat them as forming a single batch since the need to consult the PSC had arisen on Section 69 coming into effect from 4th August 1986
In the result we allow these appeals and writ petitions and make the rule absolute as under 1 The Authority will with immediate effect regularise the services of all ex PHED employees as per its Resolution of 30th January 1987 without waiting for State Government approval
2 The services of workers employed by the Authority be tween 1st April 1984 and 4th August 1986 will be regula rised with immediate effect if they possess the requisite qualifications for the post prescribed on the date of ap pointment of the concerned worker
3 The services of workers appointed after 4th August 1984 and possessing the requisite qualifications should be regu lated in accordance with Act 19 of 1970 provided they have put in continuous service of not less than one year artifi cial breaks if any 579 to be ignored
The Kerala Service Public Service Commission will take immediate steps to regularise their services as a separate block
In so doing the Kerala Public Service Com mission will take the age bar as waived
4 The Kerala Public Service Commission will consid er the question of regularisation of the services of workers who possess the requisite qualifications but have put in less than one year s service separately
In doing so the Kerala Public Service Commission will take the age bar as waived
If they are found fit they will be placed on the list along with the newly recruited candidates in the order of their respective merits
The Kerala Public Service Com mission will be free to rearrange the list accordingly
Thereafter fresh appointments will issue depending on the total number of posts available
If the posts are inade quate those presently in employment will make room for the selected candidates but their names will remain on the list and they will be entitled to appointment as and when their turn arrives in regular course
The list will enure for such period as is permissible under the extant rules
5 The Authority will be at liberty to deal with the serv ices of the workers who do not possess the requisite quali fications as may be it considered appropriate in accordance with law
6 Those workers whose services have been terminated in violation of this Court s order in respect of which Contempt Petition No 156 of 1990 is taken out shall be entitled to the benefit of this order as if they continue in service and the case of each worker will be governed by the clause applicable to him depending on the category to which he belongs and if he is found eligible for regularisation he will be restored to service and assigned his proper place
This order will regulate the services not only of the par ties to the present petitions but also all others similarly situated including those who may be parties to other pro ceedings pending in different Courts
If further directions are required in the matter of working out of the above order the High Court of Kerala may be approached for the same
All the aforestated proceedings are disposed of accordingly with no order as to costs
Y Lal Appeals and petitions allowed


Summary:
The East Punjab Molasses Control Amendment Act 1973 substituted the definition of molasses in section 2c of the East Punjab Molasses Control Act 1948 to mean the mother liquor produced in the final stage of manufacture of sugar or khandsari sugar
The unamended section 2c had hitherto referred only to sugar
Consequent changes were also made in other provisions of the Principal Act to give effect to the amendment
The appellants dealers in khandsari molasses aggrieved by the expanded definition of molasses challenged the con stitutionality of the Amendment Act 1973 on the ground that it had imposed direct and immediate restrictions upon their trade and commerce unsupported by the previous sanction of the President of India in terms of Article 304b of the Constitution
The High Court dismissed the writ petition holding that the appellants were not shown to have been aggrieved solely by reason of the amendment on the view that their business had been in equal measure controlled by the Principal Act itself
In this appeal by special leave the appellants reiter ated their contentions advanced before the High Court
For the respondents it was contended that the provisions of the Amendment Act 1973 were regulatory measures enacted to facilitate trade and therefore they did not come within the ban of the proviso to clause b of Article 304 to require the previous sanction of the President
500 Dismissing the appeal the Court HELD 1
The main object of the Amendment Act 1973 was to clarify that the Principal Act applies in equal measure to a khandsari unit as it does to any other sugar factory
It was always well understood in trade that khandsari sugar was also sugar and that any reference to sugar in the absence of specific exclusion or qualification was capable of equal application to sugar of all kinds including khand sari
The Act did not become applicable to the appellants only as a result of the amendment
Even though persons who dealt with the statute may have understood its provisions in a restricted sense such mistaken construction of the stat ute did not bind the Court so as to prevent it from giving it its true construction
316A C The Trustees of the Clyde Navigation vs Laird  Sons 8 AC 658 670 and National  Grindlays Bank Ltd vs The Munic ipal Corporalion of Greater Bombay   re ferred to 2
The Principal Act being an existing law within the meaning of Article 36610 read with Article 305 of the Constitution and the provisions of the Amendment Act being clarificatory the previous sanction of the President was not required
316D E Syed Ahmad Aga vs Stale of Mysore  referred to