Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition by Ashok Kumar and others seeking regularisation in the Mata Chintpurni Temple Trust, ruling that they were never appointed as employees.
Justice Sandeep Sharma upheld the Una Deputy Commissioner’s 2022 order rejecting their representation, noting that no appointment letters, muster rolls or salary records were produced. The court said the petitioners had only offered voluntary, gratuitous service, as earlier held by a Division Bench in 2021.
The State argued—and the court agreed—that the petitioners were not hired by the Trust and were not comparable to workers regularised in a previous case where official records existed.
Citing the Supreme Court’s Uma Devi ruling, the court said regularisation cannot be claimed without lawful appointment. The petition was dismissed.
