In Brief
Three Junior Engineers (Agriculture) appointed on contractual terms against sanctioned posts in Jharkhand's Soil Conservation Department in 2012 were denied regularisation after over a decade of continuous service and repeated annual renewals. The High Court upheld their dismissal based on contractual terms. The Supreme Court allowed their appeals, holding that the State cannot shelter behind contractual labels to deny regularisation to long-serving employees on sanctioned posts. The Court found the abrupt discontinuation arbitrary and violative of Article 14. It held that contractual clauses barring regularisation cannot override constitutional guarantees and ruled that the State, as a model employer, must act fairly without arbitrariness. The appellants were ordered regularised with consequential service benefits.
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