The Allahabad High Court has asked the state government to file a reply within six weeks in the matter of recruitment to the posts of Mukhya Sevika.
The Court said the counter-affidavit shall be filed through an Officer not less in rank than that of Joint Secretary, Bal Vika Sewa and Pushtahar, UP, Lucknow and in the said counter-affidavit, the State Government shall also indicate the financial burden if the petitioners are regularized.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sangeeta Chandra passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Anita Singh and 75 others.
The Court noted,
In pursuance of the earlier order passed by the Court, Niraj Tripathi, Additional Advocate General, has produced before the Court a detailed instructions sent from the office of the Director, Bal Vika Sewa and Pushtahar, UP, Lucknow dated 23.09.2022.
Along with instructions, a decision of the State Government communicated through the Joint Secretary, Government of UP dated 23.09.2022 has also produced wherein a proposal of the Director dated 04.04.2018, which has been made the basis of the writ petition, has been rejected on the ground that Regularization Rules of 2016 prescribed a cut-off date and the petitioners are not coming with the prescribed eligibility criteria as per the Rules, 2016.
It has also been communicated to the Director that after the high-level meeting dated 04.07.2022, necessary action has to be taken by the Department of Personnel and till date, no meeting has been held by the Karmik Department in this regard, moreover the Advertisement dated 03.08.2022 issued by the respondent no 4, having not been challenged and only a prayer having been made by the petitioners for their regularization with respect to the posts on which the petitioners are working, shall be considered at a later stage on the basis of vacancies having been remained unfilled after such selection is held.
The Court has granted six weeks’ time to respondents to file counter-affidavits and two weeks’ time to the petitioners to file rejoinder affidavits.
“The counter-affidavit shall be filed through an Officer not lessin rank than that of Joint Secretary, Bal Vika Sewa and Pushtahar, UP, Lucknow and in the said counter affidavit, the State Government shall also indicate the financial burden that would cast in case the petitioners’ prayer for regularization is considered by the appropriate Authority as the Director in his recommendation dated 04.04.2018 has stated that the financial burden on regularization of the petitioners shall be negligible,” the order reads.
The Court has fixed the next hearing of the petition on December 16, 2022.