Page 53 - The Insurance Times November 2025

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The Supreme Court denies LIC's request to ment process must adhere to that of a public employer in
order to satisfy its constitutional duty of maintaining impar-
absorb 11,000 part-time employees, citing
tiality and transparency. A bench of judges, including DY
"backdoor entries as an anachronism to Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and Vikram Nath, proclaimed,

public service." "The public service abhors the practice of allowing back-door
entries into service." The subject of dispute concerned the
Case Title : Ranbir Singh versus SK Roy, Chair- regularization claims of personnel who had been employed

man Life Insurance Corporation and Another from 20 May 1985 to 4 March 1991.
Initiated in the 1980s were numerous rounds of litigation
Summary
concerning the absorption of temporary laborers. In 1988, the
The Supreme Court has rejected a four-decade-old dispute
Supreme Court rendered a decision that resolved these con-
regarding the regularization of part-time employees at the
flicts when the LIC agreed to include impermanent employ-
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). The Supreme Court ruled
ees who had been on the job from January 1, 1982 to May
that mass assimilation of over 11,000 employees without a
20, 1985. The Supreme Court approved the compromise in
recruitment process is not permissible for a public employer, the 1989 case LIC v. Their Workmen. The court adopted the
as it must adhere to the principles of equal opportunity as
LIC-proposed scheme in the E Prabhavathy case in 1992. The
outlined in Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The dis- scheme's objective was to grant regularization to all employ-
pute concerned the regularization claims of personnel who ees who had worked for a total of 85 days in any two con-
had been employed from 20 May 1985 to 4 March 1991.
secutive years between 20 May 1985 and 23 October 1999.
The Supreme Court approved the compromise in the 1989 The issue at hand was whether part-time employees are sub-
case LIC v. Their Workmen and adopted the LIC-proposed ject to the most recent round of compromise provisions. "Evi-
scheme in the E Prabhavathy case in 1992. The court found dent and conspicuous errors" were present in the Dogra
that the Dogra Report, which supported workers' claims, Report, which the bench noted supported the workers'
inadequately verified the employment status of only Class claims. Regarding the existence of redundant entries, the LIC
III and Class IV employees who had accumulated a minimum had been the recipient of a complaint.
of 85 and 70 days of work experience, respectively, over a
The Court ruled, among other things, that the report inad-
span of two and three years. The court mandated a fresh
equately verified the employment status of only those Class
verification of the claims made by employees who claimed
III and Class IV employees who had accumulated a minimum
to have worked for Class IV for a minimum of 85 days over
of eighty-five and seventy days of work experience, respec-
a two-year period or Class III for a minimum of two years
tively, over a span of two and three years. In addition, the
and 70 days over a three-year period.
bench noted that two separate benches rendered contra-
About the case dictory decisions in an earlier round of cases, further com-
A mass assimilation of more than 11,000 employees with- plicating the situation. "A directive to LIC, a public employer,
out a recruitment process is not permissible for a public to conduct a mass absorption of more than 11,000 employ-
employer, the Supreme Court ruled in its rejection of a four- ees on such flawed grounds is not permissible in the absence
decade-old dispute regarding the regularization of part-time of a recruitment process that adheres to the principles of
employees at the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). Consti- equal opportunity as outlined in Articles 14 and 16 of the
tutional Articles 14 and 16 impose duties on LIC in its ca- Constitution." In Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi,
pacity as a statutory corporation. The corporation's recruit- the Court expressly condemned the principle of equal op-

48 November 2025 The Insurance Times