IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO WRIT PETITION No : 1389 of 1999 Between: S. Balasubramanyam, S/o. S. Veera Swamy, Assistant Engineer Office of the District Manager, A.P. State Housing Corporation, Adilabad, Adilabad District. .... PETITIONER AND 1 The Secretary to the Government of A.P Housing (R.H) Department, Secretariat Hyderabad. 2 The Secretary to the Government of A.P Social Welfare (N) Department, Secretariat Hyderabad. 3 The Managing Director, A.P.State Housing Corporation Limited, H.No. 3-6-160, Panchayatraj Chambers Building, Urdugally, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad- 500 029. 4 The District Collector cum the Chairman, The Chairman Scheduled Castes and Tribes Co-operative House Building Society and the Chairman A.P. State Housing Corporation, Nellore District. 5 The District Manager, A.P.State Housing Corporation, Adilabad District. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ more particularly in the nature of Writ of Mandamus:- i) Directing the respondents herein to regularise the services of the petitioner herein in terms of G.O.Ms.No. 50, Social Welfare (N) Department, dt. 30.5.1983. ii) i.e., regularise the services of the petitioner as Draughtsman with effect from 1-6-1983 and Supervisor/Assistant Engineer with effect from 30.1.1984. iii) and declare the in action of the respondents in not regularising the services of the petitioner herein according to G.O.Ms.No. 50, Social Welfare (N) Department, dt. 30.5.1983, other side giving the same benefit to similarly placed other employees is illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India and to pass any such other order or orders as deem fit in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner : Sri S. Chandra Sekhar Counsel for the Respondents : Government Pleader for Housing Sri P. Udaya Bhaskara Rao The Court made the following O R D E R: Out of several names sponsored by the Employment Exchange, Nellore, the writ petitioner along with three others came to be selected and appointed through the proceedings of the District Collector and Chairman, Scheduled Castes and Tribes Cooperative House Building Society, Nellore, dated 25th January 1983. While Sri P. Yanadi Reddy, Sri G. Ramatheertha Omprakash and Sri K. Bhaskar Rao came to be appointed as Supervisors, the petitioner herein came to be appointed as a draughtsman. Pursuant to these orders of appointment, the writ petitioner started working with the aforementioned House Building Society. The State Government has reviewed its existing policies on the housing schemes and announced its decision through its G.O.Ms.No. 50, Social Welfare (N) Department, dated 30th May 1983, authorizing the housing work to be taken over by the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board and the works in that regard not to be executed henceforth either by the Federation or the District Level Housing Societies. Through G.O.Ms. No. 50, it has also been ordered in its clause V as under: “ The retrenched staff of the Federation/District Societies except the staff mentioned in para 4 above shall be absorbed in the A.P. State Housing Corporation Ltd., on the same pay and allowances and the same terms and conditions of their services as they were enjoying in the Federation/District Societies, until the date of their absorption in the said Corporation.” Thus, the staff of the former District Level Housing Society have come under the administrative control of the Housing Board and started functioning therein. It is alleged against this petitioner that he had been trapped by the ACB officials while accepting illegal gratification and, consequently, his services came to be terminated. He raised Industrial Dispute No. 100 of 1990 in that regard. The Labour Court had allowed the said claim and ordered reinstatement of the workman-petitioner into service with continuity of service, attendant benefits and with 25% back wages, by its award dated 28th December 1991. The Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation had instituted Writ Petition No. 7777 of 1992 calling in question the correctness of the award passed in I.D.No.100 of 1990. By an interlocutory order passed on 30th July 1992, this Court ordered reinstatement and granted stay of payment of the back wages. Pursuant to these orders, the writ petitioner came to be reinstated into service on 24th July 1993. It is now represented by the learned counsel that Writ Petition No. 7777 of 1992 has subsequently been dismissed by this Court and thus the petitioner has been continuing in the service of the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation. On 19th March 1997, an order has been passed regularizing the services of the writ petitioner as an Assistant Engineer with effect from 01.01.1988 in accordance with the scheme postulated by the State Government through G.O.Ms. No. 182, Housing (RH) Department, dated 13th November 1991. It is submitted by the petitioner that the Corporation has taken up the matter relating to regularization of services of Sri Yanadi Reddy and Sri Bhaskar Rao and that the State Government through its communication dated 7th June 1994 had clarified that since the orders passed by the State Government through G.O.Ms.No.50 Social Welfare (N) Department, dated 30th May 1983 are very clear and specific that the Assistant Engineers be absorbed in the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation Limited on the same terms and conditions of their services in the District Level Housing Society, they may be allowed the time scale of pay in the category of Assistant Engineers from the date of their absorption in the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation Limited and that their services may be regularized with effect from the date of their regular absorption into the Corporation on par with the Assistant Engineers whose services were regularized as per G.O.Ms.No.182 Housing Department, dated 13th November 1991 without any monetary benefit accruing to the individuals up to 31st December 1990. In furtherance of this clarification accorded by the State Government, orders have been passed by the Corporation on 28th June 1994 regularizing the services of Sri P. Yanadi Reddy and K. Bhaskar Rao as Assistant Engineers with effect from the date of their regular absorption i.e. 1st June 1983, but, however, they were rendered eligible to draw the arrears of salary and allowances from 1st January 1991 onwards on par with other Assistant Engineers whose services were regularized in terms of the orders of the State Government contained in G.O.Ms.No.182 Housing Department dated 13th November 1991. The grievance of the petitioner herein is that while Sri Yanadi Reddy, Sri Bhaskar Rao and Sri Ramathirtha Omprakash were appointed as Assistant Engineers (the post was earlier called as Supervisor), he was appointed as a draughtsman through the same proceedings dated 25th January 1993 and those other individuals came to be absorbed with effect from 1st June 1983 in terms of the order passed by the State Government contained in G.O.Ms.No.50, whereas the petitioner has been singled out and he has been absorbed into the service of the Corporation with effect from 1st January 1988 and he has been allowed the monetary benefit from 1st January 1991. Thus, the case of the petitioner is that he has been singled out for absorption into the service of the Corporation with effect from 1st January 1988 while the others who were similarly placed were absorbed with effect from 1st June 1983. It is no doubt true that the petitioner herein came to be absorbed and regularized as an Assistant Engineer, though he has been initially recruited as a draughtsman. It has been brought on record that by proceedings dated 30th January 1984 of the then District Collector and Executive Director of the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation, Nellore, the petitioner came to be appointed as a Supervisor. Therefore, at least with effect from 30th January 1984 onwards, the petitioner has been functioning as a Supervisor and, consequently, his services should have been regularized with effect from 30th January 1984 as an Assistant Engineer. Heard Sri S. Chandra Sekhar, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri P. Udaya Bhaskar Rao, learned counsel for respondent No.3. The Corporation has not offered any valid or justifiable reasons as to why the services of the petitioner have been regularized with effect from 1st January 1988 as Supervisor, which post has since been re-designated as Assistant Engineer while the Corporation has preferred to regularize the service of Sri P. Yanadi Reddy, Sri G. Ramathirtha Omprakash and Sri K. Bhaskar Rao with effect from 1st June 1983. In both these cases, the monetary benefit has been uniformly rendered applicable with effect from 1st June 1991. Therefore, the petitioner may not be entitled to any other financial benefits or advantages, but however, when once the date of regularization is delayed up to 1st January 1988 he will not be securing a right to be included in the seniority list at an appropriate place. In that sense, his future prospects of promotion would get adversely affected. In that view of the matter, the claim made by the writ petitioner that his case also deserves to be considered on par with Sri Yanadi Reddy, Sri Bhaskar Rao as he is similarly placed in the matter of regularization of service on par with them. In fact, the State Government in its clarificatory letter dated 7th June 1994 issued to the Managing Director of Housing Corporation, had made this point very clear in para 3. The State Government ordered regularization of service of the former employees of the Federation /District Level Housing Societies, with effect from the date of their absorption. In the instant case, the absorption of the employees of the Federation /District Level Housing Societies has taken place pursuant to the orders passed by the State Government through G.O.Ms. No. 50, Social Welfare Department dated 30th May 1983. As was noticed supra, the writ petitioner started functioning as a Supervisor with effect from 30th January 1984. Therefore, I find no valid or justifiable reason for the Corporation not to have regularized the service of the petitioner as Supervisor, now re- designated as Assistant Engineer with effect from 30th January 1984, particularly when the Corporation has been advised by the State Government to do so through their letter dated 7th June 1994 and the Corporation has passed subsequently orders to that effect on 28th June 1994 regularizing the service of Sri P. Yanadi Reddy, K. Bhaskar Rao and Sri Ramthirtha Omprakash with effect from the date of their absorption as Assistant Engineers (Supervisors). To this extent, the writ petition stands allowed and the Corporation shall pass appropriate orders regularizing the services of the writ petitioner as an Assistant Engineer/Supervisor with effect from 30th January 1984. There shall be no order as to costs. (NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO, J) January 26, 2008 ksld ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{KCS}