Bombay HC Directs Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation To Regularise Long-Serving Contract Staff, Calls For End To Ad-Hoc Appointments

Mumbai, September 12, 2026: Emphasising that public bodies must create permanent posts through a robust recruitment mechanism instead of perpetuating systemic ad-hocism, the Bombay High Court has come to the aid of long-serving contractual healthcare staff of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC).

A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe set aside State and VVMC directives requiring the contractual medical personnel to clear a fresh written examination as a precondition for their absorption into regular service. The court directed the civic body to regularise and grant permanency to the petitioners within two weeks.

Long-Term Contractual Employment

The HC passed the order while hearing a batch of petitions including medical staff, doctors, nurses and administrative employees. They had been appointed through selection procedures and had served the civic body continuously for eight to 11 years. Despite performing regular duties, they were repeatedly engaged on six-month contracts, with technical one-day breaks between appointments.

The court noted that the employees had also rendered services during the COVID-19 pandemic. It further took note of the fact that 33 contractual employees of the VVMC had already been regularised without being required to undergo any fresh examination.

Court Flags Systemic Ad-Hocism

The bench said creation of posts and filling vacancies in accordance with applicable rules should be the norm, while contractual appointments for very short durations should be an exception.

“What has infected the system is the cultivation of such ad-hocism, rather than the creation and maintenance of a robust and permanent cadre of employees appointed as soon as vacancies arise and through the prescribed procedure,” the court observed.

The judges said such prolonged ad-hoc employment creates uncertainty and causes considerable prejudice to employees who continue working for years on temporary contracts.

Unemployment And Public Employment

The bench also highlighted the unemployment situation in the country and said citizens could not be faulted for accepting contractual or temporary public employment.

“We also cannot be oblivious to the fact that, in a large country like ours, unemployment is one of the prime concerns of the State. No fault can be found with citizens grabbing every possible opportunity of public employment,” the court said.

It said authorities must continuously assess staffing requirements and create permanent posts wherever there is perennial work, instead of allowing red tape or bureaucratic lethargy to perpetuate temporary appointments.

Directions To State And VVMC

The court directed the State Government to issue appropriate directions to municipal corporations to do away with long-term contractual appointments and adopt a comprehensive policy for regularisation.

The bench said it hoped VVMC and the State Government would ensure that “ad-hocism in public employment [is] consigned to history”.

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The court quashed the January 21 State communication and the consequential January 28 VVMC communication requiring the petitioners to undergo the examination and directed the civic body to issue their regularisation orders within two weeks.

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