India, Dec. 31 -- The Bombay High Court has held that denial of job permanency to a hospital sanitation worker solely on the ground that he is HIV-positive is "arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of constitutional rights," observing that his medical condition never affected his work performance.

A single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep V. Marne ruled on December 23 that the hospital had "wrongfully denied" permanency to the 55-year-old man, who has been working as a sweeper since 1994. The court noted that the employee continued to perform his duties for years despite being denied regularisation and was paid lower wages for the same work.

In December 2006, the hospital and its recognised union had entered into a Memorandum of Settlem...