The Bombay High Court has asserted that contractual employees appointed through a duly constituted Selection Committee and engaged in perennial public health duties cannot be denied regularization by foisting a fresh test, especially when similarly situated employees have already been absorbed without examination. The Bombay High Court quashed the State Government’s communication dated 21 January 2026 and the consequent VVMC communication dated 28 January 2026 that sought to impose a Computer Programme Based Test/Examination as a precondition for regularization of long-serving contractual employees, holding that such a condition was arbitrary and discriminatory when 33 similarly situated employees of the VVMC had already been regularized without any such examination.
The Court directed the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation to absorb and regularize all the petitioners on the posts held by them on contractual basis and to issue regularization orders within two weeks, observing that the petitioners had rendered continuous service for 8 to 11 years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, in discharge of perennial and indispensable public health functions.
The Court reaffirmed that contractual employees appointed through a public advertisement and a duly constituted Selection Committee under Section 54 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, with the reservation roster being followed, cannot be treated as back-door entrants within the meaning of Umadevi, and that the State cannot perpetuate precarious employment by relying on contractual labels where the work itself is permanent. The Court also reiterated that contractual stipulations purporting to bar claims for regularization cannot override constitutional guarantees, and that acceptance of contractual terms does not amount to waiver of fundamental rights under Article 14 of the Constitution.
The Court observed that the State Government must step in and issue a directive to all municipal corporations to do away with long-term contractual appointments and grant regularization in accordance with settled Supreme Court jurisprudence, and that ad-hocism in public employment must be consigned to history through a robust and comprehensive one-time regularization policy.
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The Division Bench comprising Justice G. S. Kulkarni and Justice Aarti Sathe observed that the petitioners were appointed through a transparent selection process and not as back-door entrants, and that the work performed by them was perennial and indispensable to the functioning of the VVMC’s health department. The Court noted that the VVMC had 465 sanctioned posts, of which only 52 were filled permanently and 413 were vacant, while 479 contractual employees were working, indicating a clear mismatch between sanctioned strength and actual deployment.
The Court further observed that the State Government had itself approved regularization of 33 similarly situated employees of the VVMC without any examination and had also sanctioned regularization of contractual employees of other municipal corporations such as Sangli and Navi Mumbai, making it evident that a different yardstick was being sought to be applied to the petitioners. The Court remarked that the petitioners, having been engaged in their youth and having rendered long and dedicated service, could not now be left to fend for themselves, particularly when alternate employment avenues were no longer accessible due to age constraints.
The Court also noted that contractual stipulations purporting to bar claims for regularization could not override constitutional guarantees, and that acceptance of contractual terms did not amount to waiver of fundamental rights.
Briefly, a batch of petitions were filed by doctors, para-medical staff, and administrative staff employed on a contractual basis by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC) for periods ranging from 8 to 11 years, seeking absorption and regularization into permanent service. The petitioners were appointed through public advertisements and a duly constituted Selection Committee under Section 54 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, with the reservation roster being followed at the time of initial engagement. Their contracts were renewed periodically by the Standing Committee, but each renewal was preceded by a one-day technical break to defeat any claim of permanency.
The petitioners had rendered continuous service, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 33 similarly situated contractual employees of the VVMC had already been regularized by the State Government vide Government Resolutions dated 23 November 2023 and 15 March 2024 without being subjected to any examination. The State Government, however, issued a communication dated 21 January 2026 directing the VVMC to conduct a Computer Programme Based Test/Examination for all working contractual officers/employees as a precondition for regularization, in line with the General Administration Department’s Government Decision dated 21 November 2022. The Deputy Commissioner (Medical Health), VVMC, by letter dated 28 January 2026, reiterated this direction. The petitioners challenged both communications and sought regularization on parity with the 33 already regularized employees.
