More than three months after the Supreme Court upheld the regularisation of group B, C and D (class II, III and IV) contractual and daily wage employees, the Haryana government on August 11 asked its departments to implement the apex court orders by immediately identifying eligible contractual employees covered under the regularisation policies of June 16 and 18, 2014.
The Supreme Court in its April 16, 2026 judgement had upheld the regularisation of group B, C and D (class II, III and IV) contractual and daily-wage employees who had completed at least three years of service and were employed as on May 28, 2014, under the June 16 and 18, 2014, policies of the state government.
The apex court, however, had struck down two notifications of July 7, 2014, which sought to regularise ad hoc group B, C and D employees who were in service since December 31, 2008, terming them arbitrary and illegal. The SC said that it did not see any justifiable reason to uphold the validity of the two notifications of July 7, 2014, since they intend to regularise the services of such ad hoc employees, who were engaged without any advertisement and without being interviewed.
However, the apex court held that in the peculiar facts of the case, group B, C and D ad hoc employees, who have secured benefit of July 7, 2014, notifications and who have continued in service shall not be disturbed. “They will be placed in the lowest pay scale of the post held by them,” a bench of Justice PS Narasimha and justice Atul S Chandurkar said in the April 16 order. In effect, the government now has two sets of contract employees, those covered by the June 2014 policies who will get the benefit of regularisation while those who benefited from July 2014 policies can stay in service but will be placed in the lowest pay scale of the post held by them.
{{/usCountry}}However, the apex court held that in the peculiar facts of the case, group B, C and D ad hoc employees, who have secured benefit of July 7, 2014, notifications and who have continued in service shall not be disturbed. “They will be placed in the lowest pay scale of the post held by them,” a bench of Justice PS Narasimha and justice Atul S Chandurkar said in the April 16 order. In effect, the government now has two sets of contract employees, those covered by the June 2014 policies who will get the benefit of regularisation while those who benefited from July 2014 policies can stay in service but will be placed in the lowest pay scale of the post held by them.
{{/usCountry}}The SC was hearing a bunch of appeals challenging the May 31, 2018, judgement of the Punjab and Haryana high court which had quashed the regularisation policies of the state government (June 16, 2014, June 18, 2014, and July 7, 2014) holding them to be violative of the law laid down by the court.
The top court held that the object behind issuing the June 16 and 18, 2014, notifications was to primarily grant the benefit of regularisation to those remaining group B, C and D ad hoc, contractual/daily wage employees, which had been granted to similarly placed employees pursuant to March 7, 1996, notification. These intended to cover such employees who have been deprived of the benefit of the March 7, 1996, regularisation policy.
An August 11 communication issued by human resources department to administrative secretaries, heads of the departments, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and registrars of the universities said that they should immediately identify all eligible contractual employees covered under the aforesaid policies, examine their cases on merit and issue appropriate orders of regularisation after ensuring fulfilment of the prescribed eligibility conditions and other statutory provisions subject to verification by the competent authority in accordance with the April 16, 2026, judgement of the Supreme Court.
The state government also ordered that instructions of June 18, 2020, June 13, 2024, and December 17, 2024, are also withdrawn with immediate effect with a decision to release all consequential benefits, including the benefit of promotion and all other consequential service benefits from the date of eligibility in favour of such regularised employees subject to eligibility conditions and rules.