7363 A T N A I N I TA L W r i t v. Wit h W r i t Pe t i t i o n

Advocates : Mr. B.M. Pingal, Advocate for petitioner in WPSS No. 524/2025. Mr. Yogesh Kumar Pacholia, Advocate for petitioners in WPSS Nos. 409/2025, 202/2025, 271/2025, 813/2025 and 854/2025. Mr. C.K. Sharma, Advocate for petitioner in WPSS No. 648/2023. Mr. Imran Ali Khan and Mr. Harsh Vardhan Dhanik, Advocates for petitioners in WPSS Nos. 695/2023 and 1906/2024. Mr. S.K. Shandilya, Advocate for petitioner in WPSS No. 347/2024, Mr. Sachin Kumar Sharma, Advocate for WPSS No. 84/2025, Mr. Gaurav Pawar, Advocate holding brief of Ms. Prabha Naithani, Advocate for petitioner in WPSS Nos. 114/2025 and 117/2025 and Mr. Amish Tewari with Mr. Kailash Chandra, Advocates for petitioner in WPSS No. 706/2025. Mr. Ganesh Dutt Kandpal, Deputy Advocate General with Mr. Narayan Dutt and Mr. Suyash Pant, Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand. 1 Mr. Pankaj Kumar, Advocate holding brief of Mr. Neeraj Garg, Advocate for UPNL. H o n ’ b l e M a n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i , J.

1. Since com m on quest ions of law and fact are involved in t hese writ pet it ions, t herefore t hey are t aken up t oget her and are being decided by a com m on j udgm ent . However, for t he sake of brevit y, fact s of WPSS No. 524 of 2025 alone are being considered and discussed.

2. I n Writ Pet it ion ( S/ S) No. 524 of 2025, pet it ioner has sought t he following reliefs: “ i. I ssue a writ , order or direct ion in t he nat ure of cert iorari quashing t he order dat ed 31- 03- 2023 qua t he pet it ioner issued by t he respondent no. 5 ( cont ained as Annexure no. 7 t o t he writ pet it ion) . I ssue a writ , order or direct ion t he nat ure of ii. m andam us com m anding and direct ing t he respondent s t o perm it t he pet it ioner t o cont inue wit h t he post of Junior Clerk ( Class I I I post ) wit h t he respondent depart m ent and t his Hon'ble Court m ay direct t he respondent aut horit y t o fram e a schem e t he pet it ioner in com pliance of j udgm ent and order rendered by Hon'ble Division Bench of t his Hon'ble Court dat ed 12- 11- 2018 passed in writ pet it ion ( PI L) no. 116/ 2018 Kundan Singh and ot hers v ersus St at e of Ut t arakhand and ot hers which has been affirm ed by t he Hon'ble Apex Court v ide j udgm ent and order dat ed 15- 10- 2024 whereby bat ch of SLP were dism issed preferred by t he St at e Governm ent . for regularizat ion of services of I ssue a writ , order or direct ion t he nat ure of iii. m andam us com m anding and direct ing t he respondent s t o pay m inim um of pay scale and dearness allowances of class I I I post t ill t he pet it ioner services is regularized.

3. According t o pet it ioner, he was appoint ed as Dat a Ent ry Operat or t hrough an out sourcing agency nam ely UPNL against a sanct ioned post in St at e Tax Depart m ent in t he year 2010 and he cont inued t o serve in t he said capacit y t ill 31.03.2023. 2

4. Pet it ioner is aggrieved by let t er dat ed 31.03.2023, issued by Joint Com m issioner ( Execut ive) , St at e Tax, Haldwani t o t he Regional Proj ect Officer, I n- charge UPNL, Haldwani.

5. By said let t er, Regional Proj ect Officer, UPNL, Haldwani was inform ed t hat vacancies against which out sourced em ployees including pet it ioner were appoint ed are no m ore available, t herefore, 14 different em ployees, including pet it ioner are being ret urned t o UPNL.

6. Learned counsel for t he pet it ioner subm it s t hat aft er serving cont inuously for about 13 years in St at e Tax Depart m ent , pet it ioner cannot be disengaged in such m anner. He furt her subm it s t hat t he work and post are st ill available, t herefore disengagem ent of pet it ioner was not proper.

7. Learned counsel for t he pet it ioner refers t o reply given t o applicat ion under Right t o I nform at ion Act m ade by pet it ioner in WPSS No. 409 of 2025 for cont ending t hat t here are as m any as 123 vacancies st ill available on t he post of Dat a Ent ry Operat or.

8. Learned St at e Counsel, however, subm it s t hat pet it ioners were engaged on cont ract t hrough UPNL, an out sourcing agency, against sanct ioned vacant post s wit h t he st ipulat ion t hat t heir engagem ent will last only t ill j oining of regularly select ed candidat es. He subm it s t hat requisit ion was sent t o Ut t arakhand Public Service Com m ission for holding select ion against available 3 vacancies on t he post of Junior Assist ant / Dat a Ent ry Operat or and t he Com m ission recom m ended 138 candidat es for appoint m ent in t he m ont h of February, 2024 and due t o appoint m ent of candidat es recom m ended by t he Com m ission, t here are no vacant post of Junior Assist ant / Dat a Ent ry Operat or available in t he depart m ent against which pet it ioners can be cont inued.

9. This subm ission, however, is disput ed by learned counsels for t he pet it ioners. They subm it t hat m ore t han 123 vacancies are st ill available on t he post of Dat a Ent ry Operat or/ Junior Assist ant , t herefore, persons who were engaged on cont ract , can very well be cont inued in service.

10. Since t here is no clarit y as regards t he available vacancies on t he post of Junior Assist ant / Dat a Ent ry Operat or, t herefore, wit hout expressing any opinion on m erit s of t he case, writ pet it ions are disposed of by direct ing Com m issioner, St at e Tax t o consider t he claim of pet it ioners for re- engagem ent against t he vacancies available on t he post of Junior Assist ant / Dat a Ent ry Operat or, st rict ly as per t heir seniorit y wit h reference t o dat e of init ial engagem ent . This exercise shall be com plet ed wit hin t hree m ont hs from dat e of product ion of cert ified copy of t his order.

11. Pending applicat ion( s) , if any, st and disposed of. Mahinder/ MAHINDER SINGH ( M a n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i , J.)

20.08.2025 DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=da6212e6e78d94ed3134842bc6a8d6ca168979ca7b8c2f031a92d1a18b08923c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=AB77B7C5B240908B392BE84F5CDD4C2AF35DC4626D305B1BC9EA4BABA43D2B 8F, cn=MAHINDER SINGH 4 5