Surendra Prasad Tewari vs Uttar Pradesh Rajya Krishi Utpadan ...

Brief facts which are necessary to dispose of the appeal are recapitulated as under:

The appellant, on 6.12.1989, was again appointed for a period of three months on contractual basis on a remuneration of Rs.1500/- for surveying the land of the village community and to determine whether Gramin Bazar/Haat is held on the lands of Gram Samaj or Zila Parishad and how many wholesalers/commission agents were working. The relevant part of order dated 6.12.1989 reads as under:

The appellant was again appointed for a period of four months by an order dated 14.2.1991. Relevant part of the said order reads as under:

The case of the appellant is that his services were orally terminated on 1.9.1992, whereas, according to the respondents, the appellant's appointment was on contractual basis and his services came to an end after the period of the contract was completed. The appellant aggrieved by the oral termination and/or non- continuation in service preferred a writ petition before the Allahabad High Court at Lucknow Bench, Lucknow.

The appellant, aggrieved by the said order of the High Court, preferred this appeal before this Court. The appellant has raised a number of questions of law in this appeal. The same are reproduced as under:

This Court issued a show-cause notice and, in pursuance to the said show-cause notice, a comprehensive counter affidavit was filed by Lokesh Kumar, Deputy Director (Administration), Head Quarters, Mandi Parishad, Lucknow on behalf of the respondents. At the outset, it was incorporated in the counter affidavit that the appellant had suppressed the material facts from this Court. The appellant had not disclosed to the Court that his tenure of 14 years was due to the interim order dated 15.9.1992 granted in favour of the appellant by the High Court and it was because of the interim order that the respondents had to continue the appellant in the department. It was further stated in the counter affidavit that the appellant was merely a temporary employee who was given employment as per the needs and exigencies of different projects undertaken by the Mandi Parishad. It was further stated that the appointment of the appellant was not against any substantive post, as alleged by the appellant in the writ petition. It was also incorporated in the counter affidavit that the appellant was given fixed term appointments on contractual basis and his services were automatically terminated after the expiry of the contract period. The copies of the orders giving contractual appointments to the appellant have been produced along with the counter affidavit, which have already been reproduced in the preceding paragraphs of this judgment. According to the respondents, the appellant's case for regularization has no merit and the High Court was correct and justified in dismissing the writ petition filed by the appellant.

The ratio of this case squarely applies to the facts of this appeal.

Admittedly, the appellant has not been appointed in terms of the relevant rules or in adherence to Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

In view of clear enunciation of law laid down in the recent judgment of the Constitution Bench and other judgments, we do not find any infirmity in the impugned judgment of the High Court. The appeal being devoid of any merit is accordingly dismissed. However, in the facts and circumstances of the case, we direct the parties to bear their own costs.