ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.S. SUPEHIA)
1. Pursuant to the order dated 01.04.2025, the respondent - District Development Officer has filed an affidavit dated 18.08.2025 providing the details of the respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers by the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat.
2. At the outset, learned AGP Mr. Trivedi has submitted that initially the present respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers, in whose favour the order was passed by the learned Single Judge, the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat, filed Misc. Civil Application (for recall) No.1735 of 2024, seeking recalling the order dated 23.04.2024 passed by the Coordinate Bench and the said
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application was allowed and hence, the present Letters Patent Appeal was revived and is listed. He has submitted that there are two set of employees in the entire litigation, in the case of respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers i.e. first, those who were appointed through direct recruitment process and the others are those, who were appointed on contractual basis, and were terminated and were seeking regularization. It is submitted that ultimately, the present respondents were employed by the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat, on contractual basis and the entire liability of reinstatement would fall within the ambit of the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat and the State authority is not concerned with the same.
3. Mr. Shalin Mehta, learned Senior Advocate for the respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers has submitted that, as recorded in the aforesaid order dated 01.04.2025, the respondents have already given up their claim of regularization and, they are only seeking reinstatement, though the learned Single Judge has directed regularization as well as reinstatement of the respondents. It is submitted that similarly situated Multipurpose Health Workers, who were terminated alongwith the present respondents were subsequently reinstated in service and also regularized. Hence, the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat has to reinstate the respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers to their original posts.
4. At this stage, Mr. R.B. Thakor, learned advocate for the appellant has submitted that some time may be granted to the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat, in order to see that the respondents are reinstated in service.
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5. Under the circumstances, and in the light of the aforesaid facts more particularly, in view of the statement made by the respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers of giving up their claim of regularization, we direct that the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat shall reinstate the respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers, within a period of 3 months. Accordingly, we direct that the appellant - Banaskantha District Panchayat shall reinstate the respondents on the very same status, which they were having at the time of termination.
6. With these observations, the present appeal is partly allowed. The order dated 19.10.2022, passed by the learned Single Judge in Special Civil Application No.3468 of 2022 is modified to the extent of reinstatement, and the claim of regularization is not considered and denied by this Court, in view of the statement made by the respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers.
7. We further clarify that the claim of the respondents - Multipurpose Health Workers for reinstatement has to be given priority since the judgment was passed in their favour, as the learned Single Judge had granted reinstatement as well as regularization.
Sd/- .
(A. S. SUPEHIA, J)
Sd/- .
(R. T. VACHHANI, J)
MVP/Supp.1/2
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