Delhi High Court Stays Termination Of Delhi Assembly Fellows, Notes Speaker Himself Had Objected To It

The Delhi High Court recently stayed the order of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat disengaging the services of Fellows and Associate Fellows under the Delhi Assembly Research Centre Fellowship Programme.

The tenure of petitioners was terminated prematurely on the ground that the reservation policy had not been followed while making the appointments and that the approval of the Lt. Governor had not been taken.

The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad was informed that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was himself of the view that both the reasons given for terminating the petitioners were not applicable to the posts held by them.

“In view of the fact that the Hon’ble Speaker had himself raised his objections for termination of the services of the Petitioners and those who are similarly situated, notice is being issued to the Respondents to show cause as to why there is a sudden change in the attitude of Respondent No.1 in agreeing for the termination of the posts of Fellows mid-way during the tenure,” the court said.

While issuing notice to the Secretariat, the court directed that till the next date of hearing, the services of the petitioners shall not be discontinued and they shall be given their stipends.

It was the case of the petitioners that they were appointed pursuant to an advertisement issued by the Legislative Assembly and that selections to the post were made in the year 2019, after following proper recruitment process. The court was apprised that the services of the petitioners and other similarly placed persons were being regularly extended after every two years, and that barring a few, their tenure would end in December, 2024.

The petitioners argued that both the reasons given by the Secretariat for disengaging their services were untenable in law. They placed reliance on the letter given by the Speaker of Legislative Assembly, where the latter had stated that both the reasons given for terminating the petitioners were not applicable to the posts held by them.

Case Title: SUBHASHINI RATAN & ORS. vs LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT NCT OF DELHI & ORS.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 899

Dated: 21.09.2023

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Gautam Narayan, Ms. Asmita Singh, Mr. Harshit Goel and Mr. Siddhant Singh, Advs.

Counsel for the Respondent: Ms. Laavanya Kaushik, Adv. for Mrs. Avnish Ahlawat, Standing Counsel, Mr. N.K. Singh, Ms. Aliza Alam, Advs. Mr. Santosh Kr. Tripathi, SC (Civil), GNCTD with Mr. Kartik Sharma, Ms. Prashansa Sharma and Mr. Arun Panwar, Advs. for R-1 and 3. Ms. Jyoti Tyagi, Ms. Manisha and Mr. Hitanshu, Advs. for R-1 to 3. Mr. Yeeshu Jain, ASC (Services) for Respondent No. 2.

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