An ad hoc employee cannot be replaced by yet another ad hoc employee said the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (JKL) High Court. In place of an ad hoc employee, only a regular appointment can be allowed, after going through the standard processed prescribed for filling such a vacancy.
Justice Sanjay Dhar was hearing a plea where the petitioners had challenged an advertisement notice via which respondents were seeking applications for temporary roles of staff nurses. These nurses were to be appointed as per an academic arrangement initially for a period of six months.
The staff nurses who were already occupying the posts had also been appointed for six months, as per a government order. Their contract was, however, extended off and on. While their recent extension allowed them to work till November 2022, the nurses objected to the ad seeking staff nurses, posted by the respondents (their employers), again on an academic arrangement, that is contractual basis.
The petitioners challenged the advertisement on the ground that it was against the law for the respondents to replace temporary nurses with temporary nurses. No contractual appointment can be replaced with yet another contractual or temporary appointment or arrangement. The petitioners (nurses) sought that the respondents be directed to allow them to continue as staff nurses (temporary) till the posts they were occupying were filled up on substantive basis.
Justice Dhar ruled that an ad hoc employee can only be replaced by a regular appointment, in compliance with the laid down procedures.
