Supreme Court Restores Regularization from Date of Eligibility, Holds G.O. Cannot Be Read Down to Deny Benefits

Case Snapshot

Case Name: A. Velayutham v. The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.

Citation: 2026 INSC 801

Bench: Justice Dipankar Datta & Justice Sheel Nagu

Date of Judgment: July 28, 2026

Area of Law: Service Law, Regularization, Constitutional Law

The Judgment in One Line

Daily wage employee appointed through employment exchange must be regularized from completion of ten years, not from later G.O. date, to avoid discrimination.

Why This Judgment Matters

This judgment clarifies that regularization benefits announced by government policy take effect from the date the employee became eligible, not from the date of the enabling order. The Supreme Court restored the Single Judge's order, holding that the Division Bench erred in applying a Full Bench decision meant for illegal appointments to a validly appointed employee. The judgment reinforces that the State cannot discriminate between similarly situated employees—if one employee receives retrospective regularization, all must receive the same benefit. It also rejects reliance on a subsequent G.O. issued during litigation to deny accrued rights.

Background

The appellant was appointed as a "daily wages watchman" on August 26, 1992, through the local employment exchange, after participating in a selection process. G.O. No. 22 dated February 28, 2006 directed regularization of daily wage employe

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