The Bombay High Court has ordered Bombay Hospital to grant permanency to a sweeper who was denied regular status for nearly two decades after being declared HIV-positive, terming the denial “arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.”
Justice Sandeep V. Marne, in a judgment pronounced on December 23, set aside an Industrial Court order dated May 3, 2023, and directed the hospital to declare the petitioner, Kumar Dashrath Kamble, permanent from December 1, 2006, the date of a settlement that regularised 150 temporary employees.
Mr. Kamble, employed since 1994, was initially found HIV-negative in 1999 but declared “unfit” during a medical examination in 2006 under the settlement terms. While his peers were confirmed permanent, he continued as a temporary sweeper until January 2017, when he was regularised on “humanitarian grounds.” His plea for parity was dismissed by the Industrial Court in May 2023.
Justice Marne strongly criticised the denial and the Industrial Court’s approach, “Denial of benefit of permanency to the Petitioner on the ground of his status as HIV+ is clearly arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.”
