The Calcutta High Court has ordered the central government to approve a regularisation scheme for 7,520 Daily Rated Mazdoors (DRMs) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The court stated that the government cannot maintain double standards. This follows a 38-year legal battle.
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court, comprising Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Smita Das De, issued the order on April 28. It came on a plea by the Union of India challenging a single judge's February decision that directed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to approve the Andaman and Nicobar Casual Labourers/Daily Rated Mazdoors (Engagement and Regularisation) Scheme 2023.
The court stated, “The standards governing the union government have to be judged on a much higher pedestal than those of ordinary citizens. The state cannot maintain double standards, on the one hand, facilitating compliance... by disbursing... Rs 300 crore... while denying to comply with the rest of the judgment on the ground of ‘policy decision’.”
The litigation began with a 1988 office memorandum on pay and regularisation of casual workers. A 2022 division bench order directed the Andaman and Nicobar administration to frame a regularisation scheme, notified in August 2023 following the “threat of contempt proceedings” in the Supreme Court.
Additional Solicitor General S D Sanjay, for the Union, argued the scheme violates Supreme Court principles in Secretary, State of Karnataka v Umadevi, as it regularises 7,520 DRMs en masse without checking sanctioned posts. The court rejected this, holding that court decisions bind the state equally and judicial precedents evolve with time.
