Upendra Singh v. The State of Bihar and Ors.
Background
The appellant was engaged as a non-teaching Grade III employee by a private college in Bihar in 1978, which later became a "Constituent College" of Bihar University. After the takeover, the University refused to pay him a regular salary or regularise his service, holding in a 2003 order that his original appointment had never followed due procedure: no advertisement, no Selection Committee recommendation, and no sanctioned post. His writ petition and intra-court appeal before the Patna High Court were both dismissed, and he alone (of eleven similarly-situated employees) pursued the matter further to the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that regularisation was only promised to employees of colleges that became Constituent Colleges on condition their original appointment had followed due procedure and was against a sanctioned post: conditions the appellant did not meet, as confirmed by the unchallenged 2003 University order and the respondents' statement that no sanctioned posts even existed. Applying the Constitution Bench ruling in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (2006), the Court reiterated that an illegal appointment made without open competitive selection cannot be regularised regardless of how long the person has worked, and that the appellant's case fell within an exception since his claim remained under litigation when Umadevi was decided. Finding the High Court's reasoning sound and no error in it, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal with no order as to costs.
Lesson Learnt
Long years of service alone do not entitle an employee to regularisation if the original appointment itself was not made against a sanctioned post through a lawful, competitive selection process: courts will not override this rule under the Umadevi framework no matter how sympathetic the individual circumstances.