In Brief
A college appointed a lecturer on a purely ad-hoc basis with a contractual clause permitting termination without notice if performance was unsatisfactory. After two years, her services were terminated for unsatisfactory work. The High Court's Division Bench set aside this order, treating it as punitive. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that termination of ad-hoc employees on grounds of unsatisfactory performance is non-punitive and requires no formal inquiry. Ad-hoc appointments confer no substantive rights; the employer's assessment of poor work is motive, not foundation, for termination. The Court distinguished disciplinary action cases and restored the original termination order.
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