IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) PRESENT THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. RAMULU WRIT PETITION NO.25581 OF 2000 DATED:25.11.2010 Between: P. Venkateswara Rao and others … Petitioners And Sri Venkateswara University Rep. by its Registrar, Tirupati Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh and others … Respondents THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. RAMULU WRIT PETITION NO.25581 OF 2000 ORDER: This writ petition is filed seeking a Mandamus to declare action of the respondents in not regularizing services of the petitioners and not paying minimum time scale to them, as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, and consequently to direct the respondents to regularize services of the petitioners and to pay minimum time scale to them. According to the petitioners, who are fourteen in number, they were engaged by the respondent – University as semi-skilled and un-skilled workers with effect from 14.9.1999 and they have I.T.I/D.E.E.E. qualification. In spite of availability of regular vacancies and though the petitioners have completed more than 240 days service, their services are neither regularized nor they are put on time scale applicable. According to the petitioners, they are attending to identical duties as that of the regular employees in the respective categories and hence they are also entitled for the minimum time scale of pay, as applicable to the regular employees. In the counter affidavit filed by the respondents it is stated that all the petitioners are working on daily wage basis, and their services were engaged purely on daily wage basis to cope up with the workload. The petitioners’ service will not be counted as university service. The wages are paid on daily wage rate basis. As a stopgap arrangement, permission was accorded to the Heads of the Departments to hire the services of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled category persons to attend to the laboratory works. Therefore, they cannot be considered as employees of the University and their service cannot be treated as continuous service. It is further stated that the contention of petitioners that all of them are discharging their duties regularly to the satisfaction of the higher authorities and they are discharging same and identical duties as that of regular employees, is not correct. The quantum of the work for the petitioners is entirely different from that of the regular employees of the university. The services of the persons working on hire basis cannot be compared with the work and the scale of pay of the employees already appointed to the regular posts, by following the State Government Rules i.e., following the rule of reservation, age etc. If any vacant post arises in the university, it is to be filled with the approval of the State Government only. As such, university cannot take the services of persons on regular time scale without concurrence of the State Government. The contention that petitioners have been requesting the first respondent university to regularize their services and to pay minimum scales to them is not correct. The petitioners are daily wage employees and they were not appointed under regulations of the university and they cannot be called as employees of the university. There is no necessity of going into all the details. It is suffice to notice that as on the date of filing of the writ petition, admittedly, petitioners are daily wage employees and have had put in at the most one year service, on the date of filing of the writ petition. It is not their case that they were appointed after being either sponsored by the employment exchange or they have applied pursuant to any notification issued by the university. Therefore, unless and until regular posts are available and sanction is made thereto by the government, the University cannot be blamed for not regularizing services of the petitioners. However, since the petitioners have completed more than ten years of service as on today, the respondents are directed to consider the case of the petitioners for absorption in any existing or future vacancies and till such time, their services may be utilized on the same terms and conditions, as of today. With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of. No costs. _______________________ (C.V. RAMULU, J) 25.11.2010 bnr