The Madras High Court has ordered a stay on the recruitment of new assistants on contract basis in railway hospitals.

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) rejected a plea by the Southern Railway Employees’ Association seeking regularisation of 202 assistants who were appointed on contract basis in railway hospitals run by the railway administration. The CAT passed the order on December 19, 2023.

Following the CAT order, the railway administration initiated steps to remove the 202 contract workers and appoint new workers in their place. The association then filed a petition in the High Court challenging the CAT order. The High Court, hearing the petition, ordered that the status quo be maintained in the recruitment of contract workers on December 20, 2023.

Meanwhile, the association filed a supplementary petition seeking a stay on the appointment of the newly selected contract workers, alleging that they had been issued appointment orders.

When the petition came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar and Kumaresan Babu, the association argued that the appointment of new contract workers in place of the 202 workers would render the case futile. They therefore urged the court to stay the appointment of new workers.

Opposing the association’s plea, the railway administration said that the association’s members’ appointments had been cancelled and that the selection process for their replacements had begun in March 2023. They also said that the new contract workers had been appointed for a period of 60 days because the CAT had rejected the association’s request for regularisation.

Rejecting the arguments put forth by the railway administration, the judges pointed out that the railway administration had violated the order to maintain the status quo in the matter. They ordered a stay on the appointment of new contract workers and directed the railway administration to use the association’s members if there was a shortage of assistants in the hospitals. They also clarified that the association’s members would not be entitled to any rights if they were re-appointed. The judges also directed the railway administration to file a reply to the petition and adjourned the hearing to the third week of February.