ACAUT on appointee doctors

EMN Dimapur, March 1 The ACAUT Nagaland has said that High Court (Kohima bench) order of 14th November 2014 was a blanket ban on regularization of services of all backdoor appointees in every department under State government, and asked the P&AR department and medical departments to stop from regularizing the services of 19 backdoor appointee doctors (2009-11 batch) as Medical Officers (MO) as it would amount to contempt of court. Media Cell, ACAUT Nagaland in a statement maintained that “ In Atouzo Pienyu (Dr) & Ors Vrs State of Nagaland & Ors, a case filed by Atouzo Pienyu and 27 other unemployed veterinary doctors under the banner of... “Unemployed Veterinary Graduates Association,” the legality of the regularization of 15 doctors as Veterinary Assistant Surgeon (VAS) by the government in the State Veterinary Department was challenged on the ground that their initial selection was not through NPSC by way of advertisement and conduct of exams and therefore “such regularization was illegal, unconstitutional and arbitrary.” “The High Court, Kohima Bench, on 14th November 2014, quoting extensively from Supreme Court judgments namely, Umadevi case, noted that “The entry of these appointees into the service having been achieved through back door cannot acquire any right and so regularization of their services would amount to negating the prescribed procedure at the cost of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.” “Finally, the Hon’ble judge, N. Chaudhury,in a landmark judgment concluded that regularization of 13 out of 15 doctors as VAS “are untenable in view of the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court….Their regularization orders, therefore, are hereby set aside.” The Additional Advocate General, Nagaland, in his written submission to the Commissioner & Secretary, V&AH department, dated 28th Jan 2015, contented that, “After giving serious consideration, I am of the opinion that there is no legally sustainable ground for preferring an appeal.” “Finally, by issuing the appointment order of those 2015 NPSC cleared 18 Medical Officers on 1st March 2016, after a criminal delay of 4 months, sanity has mercifully returned to the Medical department.”