Synopsis

A legal officer was appointed on a purely contractual basis as Executive Officer (Legal) with IIT Bombay for a period of three years, with clear stipulation that the post was temporary and not sanctioned. His appointment was renewed annually for nearly ten years, always on contract terms. When the IIT decided not to renew his appointment further, he filed a writ petition seeking quashing of the non-renewal order and regularization either in his existing post or as Deputy Registrar (Legal). He also invoked the doctrine of legitimate expectation. The Bombay High Court dismissed the petition, holding that (i) a contractual appointment comes to an end by efflux of time; (ii) the post was not sanctioned and the employee lacked the prescribed qualifications for the higher post; (iii) the Constitutional Bench decision in Umadevi squarely applies, distinguishing irregular from illegal appointments; and (iv) the decisions in Bhola Nath and Dharam Singh were factually distinguishable. The court reaffirmed that temporary/contractual employees cannot claim regularization as a matter of right, especially when the appointment was not made through a regular recruitment process and the post is not sanctioned.

Court: High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Civil Appellate Jurisdiction

Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice R.I. Chagla and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Advait M. Sethna (Division Bench)

Date of Judgment: 8th May, 2026

Citation: Writ Petition No. 5148 of 2026 (unreported)

Core Law: Constitution of India – Articles 14, 16, 21, 226, 227, 311; IIT Statutes – Regulations 11(C), 12, 13, 15; Service law – regularization of contractual/temporary employees

1. Heading of the judgment

High court of judicature at bombay civil appellate jurisdiction

Writ petition no. 5148 of 2026

Yuvraj balasaheb vharamble (petitioner) vs. Indian institute of technology bombay thru director and ors. (respondents)

Coram: hon’ble mr. justice r.i. chagla and hon’ble mr. justice advait m. sethna

Reserved on: 22nd april, 2026; pronounced on: 8th may, 2026

2. Legal framework

Major laws and provisions involved:

Constitution of india, 1950 – article 14 (equality before law), article 16 (equality of opportunity in public employment), article 21 (right to livelihood), article 226 (writ jurisdiction), article 227 (superintendence), article 311 (dismissal/removal of civil posts – not applicable to contractual employees)

Institutes of technology act, 1961 – statute 11(c) (classification of staff), statute 12 (appointments to be filled by advertisement), statute 13 (terms and conditions of permanent employees), statute 15 (appointment on contract)

Subject matter of the judgment:

Whether a person appointed on a purely contractual basis to a temporary, non‑sanctioned post, whose appointment was renewed from time to time, can claim regularization either in the same post or in a higher permanent post (Deputy Registrar Legal) after nearly ten years of service, especially when he does not possess the minimum prescribed qualifications for the higher post and the original appointment was not made through a regular selection process.

Key legal principles applied:

Contractual appointment ends by efflux of time: Where an appointment is expressly stated to be contractu

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