The Jharkhand High Court has directed the Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) to regularise the service of a long-serving employee retrospectively from February 20, 2001, along with all consequential service and financial benefits. Justice Deepak Roshan, sitting as a single bench, passed the order on September 4, 2026, in a case filed by Rakesh Kumar, who had worked with JTDC since 1993 without ever being granted regular status.
Kumar approached the court after JTDC repeatedly failed to regularise his employment despite decades of continuous service performing duties against a sanctioned post. He was represented by senior advocate Manoj Tandon. The court held that prolonged engagement on ad hoc or daily-wage terms, while an employee performs duties tied to a sanctioned position, cannot be used indefinitely to deny regular status and the benefits that come with it.
The ruling closes out a multi-decade employment dispute, granting Kumar back-dated regular status as he nears retirement — a status that typically carries knock-on implications for pension, gratuity, and other retiral benefits computed on regularised service.
The order adds to a growing line of Jharkhand High Court and Supreme Court rulings pushing back against the use of “contractual” or “daily-wage” designations to keep long-serving public sector employees outside the regular cadre. It could also draw attention from other JTDC staff in comparable daily-wage or contractual arrangements, though each such claim would need separate examination based on individual service history and applicable rules.
