In a landmark constitutional ruling delivered on 25 April 2026, a Division Bench of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh quashed the Himachal Pradesh Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Government Employees Act, 2024 (Act No. 23 of 2025) in its entirety. The impugned Act had been enacted to neutralise decades of judicial precedent protecting the service benefits of contract and ad hoc employees appointed dehors Recruitment and Promotion Rules. The Court held the Act unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the separation of powers, attacked judicial independence, was manifestly arbitrary under Article 14 of the Constitution, violated the constitutional scheme of public employment under Articles 16 and 309, and exceeded the legislative competence of the State Legislature. The judgment is an authoritative restatement of the limits on legislative power to override judicial decisions and carries significant implications for public employment law across the country.
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