Court No. - 5
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 8777 of 2021 Petitioner :- Nitesh Tiwary Respondent :- Union Of India (Ministry Of Defense) And Another Counsel for Petitioner :- Nand Lal Yadav,Sunil Kumar Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I.
Hon'ble Saral Srivastava,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Ms. Shruti Taneja, Advocate holding brief of Ms. Pooja Agarwal, learned counsel appearing for the respondents.
The petitioner, by means of this writ petition, has prayed for the following reliefs:
"A. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent authorities to consider the claim of the petitioner on the post of helper in the Canteen run by the Respondent No.2 by renewing the further term of engagement which was not extended during the lock down period(after 31 March 2020) and further pleased to decide the notice cum representation dated 31/10/2020 pending before the Respondent No.1.
B. Issue any such other and further order as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper under the circumstances of the case and C.Award the cost of the petition."
It appears that the petitioner was appointed as Helper in Unit Run Canteen, Gorkha Recruiting Depot, Kunraghat, Gorakhpur (U.P.) vide order dated 27.4.2019 for 11 months. However, the petitioner worked till 26th March, 2020 and after imposition of lock down he could not attend the office to discharge his duties.
After the lock down is over, the respondent authority informed the petitioner that his services has been dispensed with.
Ms. Shruti Taneja, Advocate holding brief of Ms. Pooja Agarwal, learned counsel appearing for the respondents contended that the appointment of the petitioner was 11 months and as per Condition No.4 of the appointment letter, his appointment ceases on the date of the expiry of 11 months. Accordingly, she submits that no relief can be granted to the petitioner.
Be that as it may, it is not in dispute that there was a complete lock down in the country in March, 2020. According to the petitioner, he has worked till 26th March, 2020 and for the reasons beyond his control, he could not attend his duty.
In the circumstances, this Court finds that it would be appropriate in the facts of the case to relegate the petitioner to approach respondent no.1 by filing a representation raising all his grievances within a period of two weeks from today. In case any such representation is filed by the petitioner along with the copy of this order downloaded from the official website of the Allahabad High Court duly certified by the learned counsel for the petitioners, the respondent no.1 shall decide the same by reasoned and speaking order within a period of four weeks thereafter.
The writ petition is disposed of subject to the observations made above.
Order Date :- 30.7.2021 SKM