Uttarakhand HC flags non-compliance with order on regularisation of UPNL pharmacists, seeks state response

Dehradun: In a significant development, the Uttarakhand high court has addressed a long-standing issue concerning the regularisation of UPNL-sponsored employees, noting that a recent state govt order "failed" to fully implement an earlier court directive. The court observed that the order dealt only with wage payments and did not provide for job permanency, as mandated in its previous ruling on regularising UPNL-sponsored contractual pharmacists.Hearing a special appeal on March 25, a bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay took up a plea by Deepak Kumar and others, whose petition for regularisation had earlier been dismissed. The appellants, who have worked as contractual pharmacists for over a decade, argued that their case was overlooked and that a key direction in the Kundan Singh judgment was not considered.In its Nov 18, 2018 ruling in the Kundan Singh case, the HC had directed the state govt to regularise UPNL-sponsored employees in a phased manner within one year and ensure payment of minimum pay-scale with dearness allowance along with arrears. The Supreme Court dismissed the state's special leave petitions against this order on Oct 15, 2024, effectively upholding the directive.During the hearing on March 25, the bench noted that although the state had constituted a seven-member committee to ensure compliance, its Feb 3, 2026 order addressed only the payment component and made no provision for phased regularisation.sObserving that the issue of implementing the Kundan Singh directions is also under consideration in another pending case, the court adjourned the matter to April 8 and directed the state to file an affidavit detailing how it has complied with the original directive on regularisation.