Shimla, Aug. 30 -- The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to take over the services of three employees of Government Sanskrit College, Dangar, with retrospective effect from June 17, 2021, setting aside an earlier order that had rejected their claim.

Justice Sandeep Sharma, allowing a petition filed by Raman Kumar and others, quashed the impugned office order of January 6, 2025, and ordered that the petitioners -- working as Clerk, Darashanacharya, and Peon -- be granted all consequential benefits, including arrears of salary.

The court also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the state, observing that the petitioners had been "unnecessarily dragged into litigation" and had served the college without pay since June...