New Delhi: The Government of Tripura has sought the Supreme Court’s permission to re-appoint over 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate teachers, whose appointments were earlier quashed by the court, as peons, night guards, gardeners, cooks and lower division clerks.
In 2010 and 2014, under the Revised Employment Policy, 2003, the government of Tripura had appointed 1,035 postgraduates, 4,666 Graduates and 4,612 undergraduates through oral interviews.
However, the High Court of Tripura on May 7, 2014 had quashed the appointment of all the teachers by setting aside the 2003 policy. Thereafter, on March 29, 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the high court’s order and directed the state government to frame a new policy with fresh recruitment by December 31, 2017.
The government, then, had framed a new policy in 2017, but the employment of teachers on ad-hoc basis was continued owing to shortage of teaching staff and non completion of recruitment through proper advertisement and examination process.
On November 1, 2018 the Supreme Court allowed the state government to recruit ad-hoc teachers who were earlier terminated till March 31, 2018.
However, subsequent to the Supreme Court’s order the state government created 12,000 posts to recruit the terminated teachers as student counsellors, school library assistants, academic counsellors, hostel wardens and school assistants. The state had devised the appointment method in such a way that the very same teachers whose appointments had been cancelled by the court were appointed for the said posts.
However, when the matter was brought before the Supreme Court, it issued a contempt notice, thereby stopping the state government to further carry on with the process of recruiting the terminated teachers.
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The state government has now pleaded before the Supreme Court that the terminated teachers will not be given benefit of experience for the years of service they have put in nor will they be given any legal right when they are appointed as peons, night guards, gardeners, cooks, day guards, horticultural workers, Anganwadi supervisors etc.
The bench, comprising Justice UU Lait, Justice MM Shantanagoudar and Justice Vineet Saran has reserved its order in the present case.
-India Legal Bureau