High Court · 2025

1. Mr. Abhij ay Negi, Mr. Vinod Fulara, Ms. Sudha Tam t a, Mr. Hem Chandra Joshi and Mr. Gulshan Pandey, Advocat e holding brief of Mr. Rahul Adhikari, Advocat es for t he pet it ioners. 2. Mr. D.K. Bankot i, learned Brief Holder for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand. 3. Mr. Yashpal Singh, Advocat e holding brief of Mr. Neeraj Garg, lear ned counsel for t he r espondent - UPNL. Since com m on quest ions of fact and 4. involved t hese pet it ions, law are t hese pet it ions are clubbed t her efore, t his com m on t oget her and decided by j udgm ent . However, for t he sake of br evit y and convenience, fact s of WPSS No. 2309 of 2023 alone are being consider ed and discussed. Pet it ioner s in WPSS No. 2309 of 2023 5. wer e engaged differ ent divisions of Ut t arak hand Forest Depart m ent . The reliefs, sought in t he writ pet it ion, ar e as follows: - t hrough out sour cing i) I ssue writ order or direct ion in t he nat ure of Mandam us respondent com m and Ut t arakhand Forrest Depart m ent t o act upon t he Governm ent Order No. 1285 of 2023 dat ed 09.11.2023 ( Annexur e 9) , vide which t he st at e t he t o governm ent has infor m ed t he Head of Forest Force ( HoFF) in t he governm ent of Ut t arakhand w it h regard t o t he creat ion of 1113 post s and has direct ed t hat for furt her post s/ rest ruct uring of t he Forest Depart m ent , t he am ended proposal be sent t o t he st at e governm ent at t he earliest . t o ii) I ssue writ order or direct ion in t he nat ure of m andam us t he respondent com m and cont inue Ut t arakhand Forest Depart m ent ext ending t he benefit of t he Governm ent Order No. 1284 of 2023 dat ed 09.11.2023 ( Annexure 10) , vide which it was specifically not ed t hat t here are a t ot al of 2187 persons current ly serving in t he Ut t arakhand Forest Depart m ent via out source m echanism whose arrears of salary were direct ed t o be cleared t ill Oct ober, 2023. t o iii) I ssue a writ order or direct ion in t he nat ure of m andam us t o com m and t he Ut t arakhand Forest t he Depart m ent Governm ent Order dat ed 20.12.2006, ( Annexure 2) vide which t he aspect of out sourcing services was specifically recognized w it hin t he st ruct ure of t he Ut t arakhand Forest Depart m ent . t o abide by Clause 4 of iv) I ssue a writ order or direct ion in t he nat ure of cert iorar i t o quash t he Governm ent Order dat ed 18.07.2023 ( Annexur e 7) as being cont rar y t o t he Governm ent Order dat ed 27.04.2018 ( Annexure 3) and being arbit rar y whim sical and cont rary t o public law. v) I ssue a writ order or direct ion in t he nat ure of cert iorar i t o quash t he decision dat ed 17.11.2023 ( Annexure 11) as t aken by a High- level com m it t ee of t he Ut t arakhand Forest Depart m ent , wherein an arbit rar y decision has been t aken cont rar y t o t he Governm ent Order dat ed 20.12.2006 ( Annexure t he Forest Depart m ent was 2) , vide which rest ruct ured, and a blanket direct ion has been issued for rem oving persons who have com e via out source channel.

6. I n sum and subst ance, t he grievance of pet it ioners in all t hese pet it ions is t hat t her e engagem ent was discont inued only on t he ground t hat t her e was a change in t he salary head from which t heir wages wer e being draw n.

7. Coordinat e Bench has passed an order on 08.01.2024, aft er hearing t he version of Senior Officer s of Forest Depart m ent , including Principal Chief Conser vat or of Forest ( HoFF) . Relevant para of t he said order are ext ract ed below: - t he said “ 1 3 . From conj oint reading of t wo governm ent orders, it appears t hat t he paym ent which is t o be m ade t o t he pet it ioners should be m ade under t he head of 08 St andard Head as t he Governm ent Order dat ed annexed t o t he 25.10.2019. respondent Depart m ent t he paym ent from t his Head can only be m ade t o t hose persons, who have been engaged on cont ract or out sourcing agency like UPNL and PRD against t he regular and sanct ioned post . Difficult y facing t hat 1 4 . This Court is not im pressed by t he reasoning which has been offered by t he respondent- Depart m ent as well as t he learned St at e counsel, for t he reason t hat it is adm it t ed by t he Officers, who are present t hrough video conferencing, t hat t hese pet it ioners have been engaged w it h t he respondent- Depart m ent different channels, including out sourcing agency, on account of t heir requirem ent in t he depar t m ent and it is also adm it t ed by t he Officers, appearing t hrough video conferencing, t hat requirem ent of t hese persons are st ill t he Forest Depart m ent . t hrough t here 1 5 . The only glit ch which t his Cour t can com prehend, is w it h r egard t o t he fact t hat since t he t hey have not been engaged against sanct ioned and regular post s, t here is difficult y wit h t he respondent- St at e and t he Depart m ent for m aking paym ent t o t hem under Head 08 which is m eant for such em ployees. But fact of t he m at t er is t his, t hey have been paid since long even before t he Governm ent Order dat ed 18.07.2023. required and 1 6 . Keeping in view t he fact t hat service of t he pet it ioners are st ill t he only difference lies w it h t he m ode of paym ent t o t he pet it ioner, t his Court is of t he view t hat t ill t he writ pet it ion is decided on m erit , pet it ioners service shall not be dispensed w it h, accordingly respondent- Depart m ent t he order passed by dat ed 17.11.2023 passed by respondent no.3 relying dat ed upon Governm ent Order 24.07.2018 is hereby st ayed. t he next dat e of 1 7 . Till list ing, effect and operat ion of t he im pugned governm ent order dat ed 18.07.2023 is hereby st ayed. 1 8 . Learned counsel for t he respondent s pray for and are grant ed six w eeks’ t im e for filing count er affidavit ( s) . t heir r em unerat ion and 1 9 . I t is m ade clear t hat pet it ioners shall be paid arrears of r egular rem unerat ion on m ont h t o m ont h basis, aft er sort ing out t he difficult y in m aking t he paym ent t o t he pet it ioner as it can be cured by St at e Governm ent it self. Arrears be paid wit hin six weeks from t oday 2 0 . I t is also subm it t ed by t he Officers, Mr. Anup Malik, Pr incipal Chief Conservat or of Forest ( HOFF) and Mr. Nishant Verm a, Chief Conservat or of Forest , Hum an Research Developm ent t hat t he Depart m ent is sincerely t aking up t he issue wit h t he Governm ent t o resolve t he problem faced by t he pet it ioners.” From t he afor esaid order passed by 8. coordinat e Bench, it is revealed t hat t he Forest Officers had assured t he Court t hat t hey will sincer ely t ake- up t he issue wit h t he St at e Gover nm ent t o resolve t he problem faced by pet it ioner s. Lear ned St at e Counsel in a 9. posit ion t o apprise t he Court about any progr ess in t he m at t er. is not

10. I n such view of t he m at t er, no useful pur pose would be served by keeping t hese writ pet it ions pending, when t he only issue is regar ding discont inuance of engagem ent of pet it ioners on t he sole ground of change of head under w hich t he wages are t o be paid.

11. The writ pet it ions are, accordingly, disposed of by providing t hat engagem ent of pet it ioners shall not be discont inued only on t he aforesaid gr ound, nam ely t hat head under which t heir wages ar e t o be draw n has been changed and pet it ioners shall be per m it t ed t o ser ve, if work and post is available in t he concerned Division. ( M a n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i , J)

10.12.2025 Aswal NITI RAJ SINGH ASWAL DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=eacc6757ee7881e933ff8934f07477005aa85f9802a3a08b08d1369512ea30f3, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=44EB54CBF00B7698CB6F10C2CE3D26F5C22DACF4F4610C1FE58A58531726FBB 0, cn=NITI RAJ SINGH ASWAL