1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA LPA No.223 of 2026 Decided on : 22.04.2026 Uploaded on: 24.04.2026 The State of Himachal Pradesh and others …… Appellants Versus Vinay Kumari …… Respondent Coram: The Hon’ble Mr. Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bipin Chander Negi, Judge Whether approved for reporting?1 {{ For the Appellants : Mr. Pranay Pratap Singh, Additional Advocate General. Bipin Chander Negi, Judge The question which arises for consideration in the appeal at hand pertains to the regularization of the respondent initially appointed on a contract in the HP Mid Himalayan Watershed Development Project, wherein the respondent had been appointed as a Data Entry Operator after participating in a selection process duly advertised. Admittedly, the respondent worked in the HP Mid Himalayan Watershed Development Project from 02.02.2010 till 31.03.2017. Thereafter, respondent worked in the Integrated 1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2 Development Project for Source Sustainability and Climate Resilient Rain-fed Agriculture (IDP) from 01.04.2017 to 16.06.2017. Subsequent thereto, the respondent is working as a Data Entry Operator in the JICA project from 17.6.2017 till date. In the aforesaid backdrop, the appellants had contended that the respondent therein was not an employee of the Forest department but was employee of the Himachal Pradesh Natural Resource Management Society and that the respondent throughout her career has been working in Externally Aided Projects. 2. In exactly similar facts and attending circumstances, the issue pertaining to regularization of a contractual employee initially in the HP Mid Himalayan Watershed Development Project from 01.10.2007 till 31.03.2017 and thereafter working in the Integrated Development Project for Source Sustainability and Climate Resilient Rain-fed Agriculture (IDP) till date came up for consideration in LPA No. 206 of 2026 titled State of H.P. vs. Chander Sain, decided on 09.04.2026. Therein the appeal preferred by the State was dismissed and the judgment passed by the learned Single Judge granting relief of regularization was upheld. 3. For the reasons stated in the aforesaid judgment (Chander Sain) which shall be read mutatis mutandis in the instant case, present appeal is dismissed, so also the pending applications(s), if any. 3 ( G.S. Sandhawalia ) ( Bipin Chander Negi ) Chief Justice Judge April 22, 2026 (vs/ks)