In a significant relief for four daily-wage employees, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed the termination orders passed by the Malegaon Municipal Corporation earlier this year. Justice Milind N. Jadhav, while pronouncing the verdict, directed the civic body to reinstate the petitioners - two drivers and two firemen - within one week and grant them back wages along with permanency benefits.
Background
The petitioners - Pradip Ramesh Shinde, Bhushan Suresh Thakre (drivers), and Sunil Ananda Bagul, Sheikh Javid Sheikh Rashid (firemen) - had been serving the corporation since 2016–17. Initially hired on six-month contracts at a modest salary of ₹7,000 per month, they continued to work uninterruptedly for nine years. Their employment, however, was repeatedly shown as “temporary” with artificial breaks on paper.
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When the corporation dismissed their unfair labour practice complaints in May 2025, they moved the High Court. Even as the petitions were pending, the civic body abruptly terminated them on July 2, 2025, citing financial restrictions imposed by a government resolution that capped establishment expenditure at 35% of annual revenue.
Court’s Observations
Justice Jadhav minced no words in criticising the corporation’s stand. “Equity must not be a casualty in the hands of executive convenience,” he observed, adding that the petitioners had worked continuously in essential services shoulder-to-shoulder with permanent employees.
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The judge also referred to recent Supreme Court rulings cautioning state institutions against hiding behind financial constraints to justify exploitation of long-serving temporary workers. “To ignore their reality is to make justice blind to lived experiences,” he remarked.
The court noted that the drivers and firemen were appointed against sanctioned posts created in 2016 and their work was undeniably perennial. The corporation’s plea of helplessness, based on overshooting budgetary limits, was found “prima facie arbitrary and high-handed.”
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Decision
Quashing both the May 6, 2025 industrial court order and the July 2, 2025 termination notices, the bench directed immediate reinstatement of all four employees. They are to be given continuity of service, back wages from the date of termination, and full benefits of permanency going forward.
With this, the nearly decade-long struggle of the four workers against precarious employment saw a turning point, as the High Court held that public bodies cannot perpetuate “ad-hocism” at the cost of dignity and fairness.
Case: Bhushan Suresh Thakre & Ors. v. Malegaon Municipal Corporation
Case Numbers: Writ Petition Nos. 7949, 8004, 7951, 7954 of 2025
Parties:
Petitioners: Pradip Ramesh Shinde, Bhushan Suresh Thakre (Drivers), Sunil Ananda Bagul, Sheikh Javid Sheikh Rashid (Firemen)
Respondent: Malegaon Municipal Corporation
Date of Judgment: September 30, 2025
