Important Supreme Court verdict against the outsourcing policy of the government.

An important Supreme Court verdict has come in the newspaper (The Hindu) on 25.08.2025, that, “Government is a constitutional employer not a market player, it cannot use outsourcing as a means of exploitation.” The Supreme Court has held in a judgment that public institutions cannot use outsourcing of jobs as a means of exploitation, denying long-term ad hoc employees regularisation or basic pay parity by citing financial strain or lack of vacancies. In the court verdict it has stated that, “Outsourcing cannot become a convenient shield to perpetuate precariousness and to sidestep fair engagement practices where the work is inherently perennial,” a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed in a recent judgment. The judgment was based on an appeal filed by daily wage workers of Higher Education Services Commission in Uttar Pradesh. It has mentioned in the court verdict that, “Financial stringency certainly has a place in public policy, but it is not a talisman that overrides fairness, reason and the duty to organise work on lawful lines.” It is most important that, the court said government departments must keep and produce accurate establishment registers, muster rolls and outsourcing arrangements. The departments must explain with evidence why they preferred “precarious” engagement over sanctioned posts when work was perennial.

[Source: The Hindu dated 25.08.2025]

[Date : 29 - Aug - 2025]