Ranchi, Nov 27 (NationPress) The Jharkhand High Court has invalidated the termination of eight workers from the Bokaro Juvenile Home, instructing the state government to reinstate them.

Justice Deepak Roshan concluded the hearing on Thursday, asserting that the government's termination order was legally unsound, highlighting that the employees' services had been officially recognized by the administration prior to their abrupt dismissal.

The petition indicated that in 2016, the Bokaro Deputy Commissioner had published a public advertisement soliciting applications for eight positions at the Juvenile Home. Following a formal selection process, the candidates were appointed to their designated roles.

Once they commenced their duties, service books were initialized for each individual, and they received salaries and benefits equivalent to regular government employees, which signified full administrative acknowledgment of their employment status.

However, approximately one year later, the government issued a notice terminating their services, arguing that their appointments were intended to be contractual, but due to a departmental error, service books had been issued as if they were regular staff.

The employees were subsequently reclassified as daily wage laborers beginning January 2018.

In response to this action, the affected staff approached the High Court in 2017. During the proceedings, the state contended that the initial appointments were inadvertent, stemming from an internal mistake, thereby justifying the termination upon realizing the error.

The petitioners countered, asserting that their selection was conducted through a transparent, advertised, and lawful recruitment process. They further claimed that they had been granted all the rights of regular employees, and that the administration's internal errors should not serve as a basis for penalizing legally appointed workers.

Upon examining submissions from both parties, the court recognized that the government had treated the petitioners as regular employees from the outset. The initiation of service books, issuance of salaries, and assignment of duties all demonstrated a clear recognition of their employment. Under these circumstances, the court stated that reverting their status and terminating them based on an administrative error was arbitrary and unjustifiable.

Consequently, the High Court annulled the termination order and commanded the government to reinstate all eight employees.