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Kamlesh v. Union of India

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 56Decided 20 Jan 2020
Civil Appeal No. 2535 of 2011
Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice Deepak Gupta

Background

Kamlesh was appointed in 1992 as an Extra-Departmental Employee at a Delhi post office on an explicitly provisional basis, with her appointment letter stating she would have no claim to any post once a regular appointment was made. After her services were discontinued, she spent nearly two decades litigating for regularization before the Central Administrative Tribunal, the Delhi High Court (including a review petition), and finally the Supreme Court, which in 2011 had directed her interim reinstatement pending final decision.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found no error in the repeated rejection of her regularization claim by the Tribunal and the High Court, since her own appointment order made clear the post was temporary and terminable without notice. However, taking a practical view of her decades-long service, the Court did not simply dismiss her outright: it directed that she be permitted to continue holding the post until a regular appointment is actually made to it, though without any entitlement to back wages. The appeal was dismissed on these terms.

Lesson Learnt

A clearly worded "provisional, no-claim" appointment letter can defeat a regularization claim no matter how many years the employee actually serves; employees should carefully note the terms of their initial appointment, since courts give those terms significant weight.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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