Judgment
Reserved on 19.02.2025 (Some petitions Reserved on
20.02.2025 and 26.03.2025)
Pronounced on 29/04/2025
1. Caught in a state of prolonged uncertainty of their
employment, petitioners before this Court are seeking protection
of their rights. Despite performing duties equivalent to those of
their regularly appointed counterparts, they continue to be denied
equality. Trapped between the aspiration for regularization of job
and working without any break for years together (10-30 years)
on inadequate pay, they are neither in a position to resign for
alternative employment nor to endure continued exploitation.
They thus yearn for pay parity with their counterparts, who
perform similar tasks. Primary reason of discrimination and
financial hardship is the irregular mode of their recruitment,
which, though not illegal, has led to their current plight. The
existential insecurity they face is aptly captured by the timeless
lyrics of the song titled “Blowing in the wind”2 i.e.
How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.