10,323 teachers receive another setback in Tripura High Court

The Tripura High Court has ruled that no special can be given to over 10,300 teachers, whose services have been terminated, for recruitment in newly created posts.

Agartala: In a significant judgement, the Tripura High Court Tuesday ruled that the 10,323 terminated teachers could not be given any special favour for recruitment in the newly created posts. The High Court single bench headed by Justice Arindam Lodh pointed out that any such attempt would be in violation of Article 226 of the Indian constitution.

On behalf of the retrenched teachers, Bijoy Krishna Saha, Rajib Das and Arun Bhaumik moved the High Court seeking direct employment as solace to their loss.

While dismissing the writ petition recently, Justice Lodh referred to the Supreme Court’s order made earlier based on the state government’s petition to accommodate the 10,323 discharged teachers in various vacant posts without any open advertisements while passing the judgement.

The High Court observed that in the writ petition by Saha, Das and Bhaumik, the prayers to direct the state government to provide them employment in the vacant Group C and D posts without adhering to the selection process is itself illegal. No court can give such directions compelling any state government or any authority to make any such employment in any public post so as to accommodate the writ petitioners without any selection process, it added.

The High Court in its order said, “….this Court cannot reinterpret or re-read the orders otherwise. It has become crystal clear that the Supreme Court did not accede to the request of the state government to permit them to appoint the terminated teachers directly without following the recruitment rules or following the established employment norms.”

The High Court also observed that the averments made in the affidavit filed by the state government before the Supreme Court and the prayers made seeking permission to appoint the terminated teachers without following normal Recruitment Rules is "contrary to the established legal principle of employment".

According to the order, no government can plead or take any decision which is not in conformity to the doctrine of established norms of public employment as enshrined in Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. Any such decision being contrary to constitutional scheme would be declared as null and void, observed Justice Lodh.

Justice Lodh then directed the state government and its recruiting agencies as well as the terminated teachers, including the petitioners, to respect the observations and directions made by the Supreme Court in its true sense and spirit.

The High Court observed that earlier “the Supreme Court clarified that the state government is obliged to conduct selection process in which the concerned candidates i.e. the petitioners and other similarly situated terminated teachers shall be entitled to participate with age relaxation and no relaxation has been given to other eligibility criteria mentioned in the respective recruitment rules applicable for the posts to be advertised by different state government departments".