Temporary employee can be terminated without enquiry: J&K High Court

SRINAGAR: The High Court has held that the Government can terminate a temporary employee from the services without holding detailed regular departmental enquiry against him and dismissed the plea of challenging the termination order against a contractual employee.

The petitioner-Abid Ahmad Ganai had challenged the order and communication issued by the concerned authority, whereby his engagement as Gram Rozgar Sahayak along with other officials was terminated after he was found to be involved in fake MGNREGA job card scam in district Anantnag in the year 2019.

Ganaie had challenged the impugned order of termination on the grounds that his services could not have been terminated without holding a detailed enquiry in the matter. His counsel contended that the impugned order of termination has been passed by the authorities in violation of principles of natural justice and that the petitioner has not been given a fair hearing.

Justice Sanjay Dhar declined to entertain all these arguments as advanced by the counsel for the delinquent employee by holding that since his engagement in the department was temporary as such no need arises for the authorities to hold a full-fledged enquiry against the petitioner before terminating him from the services.

“For what has been discussed herein before, it is clear that termination of the petitioner from his services has been effected in accordance with the conditions of his engagement after following the principles of natural justice. The contention of senior counsel appearing for the petitioner that the petitioner was entitled to a full-fledged regular enquiry with a right to participate in the said enquiry is misconceived having regard to the nature of engagement of the petitioner. The petition, therefore, lacks merit and is dismissed”, Justice Dhar concluded.

The court before deciding the petition has raised the question for consideration as to whether the petitioner was entitled to be subjected to a regular departmental enquiry before terminating his services as, admittedly, the order of his termination is stigmatic in nature.

Court has held that the petitioner was not working as a regular employee against a civil post but he was engaged on temporary basis on consolidated wages, therefore, the safeguards available to an employee appointed on a civil post as contained in Article 311 of the Constitution of India and the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, are not available to the petitioner-employee.

“From a perusal of these conditions, it is clear that the petitioner’s services were terminable at any time on the basis of proven misbehavior or poor performance and his services were also terminable without notice if any of his acts amounted to indiscipline”, read the judgment.

Underscoring the apex court ruling on the issue, Justice Dhar held that a person appointed on contractual basis does not enjoy the protection of Article 311(2) (full-fledged enquiry) for the simple reason that he is not member of a civil service of the Union or an All India Service or a civil service of a State or holds a civil post under the Union or a State.

The authorities informed the court that the outcome of termination of petitioner and other employees is brazen irregularities and issuance of fake MGNREGA job cards in district Anantnag was reported and a Committee of Officers was constituted to enquire into these allegations and the said committee after scrutinization of records found certain deviations, discrepancies and irregularities and it was established that the job cards have been issued in violation of rules and norms of the scheme.