The recent Supreme Court decision established that extended periods of contractual employment do not confer a vested legal right to secure regular employment.

The Supreme Court deliberated on the appeal of individuals who had been appointed at Shri Guru Govind Singh Institute of Engineering and Technology on a contractual basis since 2011. These individuals had requested regularization in their positions. Nevertheless, the State informed the Supreme Court that the appointment procedure for these positions had already been finalized.

A division bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi, while appreciating the time spent by the petitioners at the institute, held that they had not acquired any vested legal right to be regularised. The view of the Bombay High Court was thus affirmed:

"We appreciate the argument of the petitioners that they have given best part of their life for the said college but so far as law is concerned, we do not find their continuous working has created any legal right in their favour to be absorbed. In the event there was any scheme for such regularization, they could have availed of such scheme but in this case, there seems to be none. We are also apprised that some of the petitioners have applied for appointment through the current recruitment process. The High Court has rejected their claim mainly on the ground that they have no right to seek regularization of their service. We do not think any different view can be taken.”

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