Shimla:
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has stayed the recruitment of Assistant Staff Nurses in the state Health Department and directed the government not to issue any fresh appointment letters or permit joining of candidates until further orders.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma observed that appointments made outside the prescribed recruitment rules cannot be accepted.
The court noted that the state government had notified a new policy on November 6, 2025, and created a separate cadre of Assistant Staff Nurses, approving around 900 posts without amending the existing recruitment rules. The bench observed that neither service rules nor pay scales for the new cadre had been formally notified.
Rejecting the state’s argument that the appointments were being made under a government policy, the court said recruitment carried out without a legal framework could not be justified. It remarked that the government appeared to have created a new cadre despite ongoing judicial scrutiny of outsourcing and irregular appointments.
The High Court also expressed concern over the state’s financial condition while senior officials continued overseas visits. During the hearing, the bench questioned the necessity of a foreign tour undertaken by the Health Secretary, noting the contradiction between the state’s fiscal stress and official expenditure on international travel.
The court has directed the state government to file a detailed affidavit by July, specifying the number of outsourced employees engaged across departments over the past three years and the number of vacant regular posts. The government has also been asked to explain the legal basis for making Assistant Staff Nurse appointments without amendments to the recruitment rules.
According to submissions before the court, nearly 1,535 regular posts in the Health Department are currently lying vacant.
