Court Upholds Regularisation Policy, Directs State to Grant Permanent Status to Long-serving Educators
In a landmark decision, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the regularisation of services for guest faculty teachers who have been serving for nearly two decades in government schools across Haryana. The judgment was delivered by Justice Sandeep Moudgil, who invoked Article 226 of the Constitution of India, granting a writ of mandamus directing the State to implement its regularisation policy dated June 18, 2014.
The case, "Sukhvinder Singh and Ors. v. State of Haryana and Anr.," centers around the petitioners, who have been working as guest faculty since 2005-06. Despite being hired through a transparent process involving advertisements and merit-based selection, their employment was initially categorized as a stop-gap arrangement. However, the court found that the long-standing service and need for regular teaching positions warranted their regularisation.
The court dismissed the State's objections regarding the temporary nature of the appointments and the alleged non-compliance with reservation policies. The judgment emphasized that the petitioners' engagement was conducted without fraud or manipulation and that the State's own regularisation policy accounted for adjustments in the reservation roster during the regularisation process.
The decision aligns with previous Supreme Court rulings, including the Narendra Kumar Tiwari and Gujarat Agricultural University cases, reinforcing the stance that employees cannot be kept on insecure tenure for extended periods when their work is of a regular and perennial nature. Justice Moudgil highlighted the critical role of educators and the need to grant them parity with their permanently appointed counterparts.
The court has directed the State of Haryana to regularise the petitioners' services within two months, granting them full service and retiral benefits. This ruling not only provides relief to the petitioners but also sets a significant precedent for the rights of contractual and ad hoc employees in the education sector.
Bottom Line:
Regularisation of Guest Faculty Teachers working for nearly two decades is permissible under the regularisation policy framed by the State, especially where their engagement was made through a transparent process and their work and conduct remained undisputed.
Statutory provision(s): Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
Sukhvinder Singh v. State of Haryana, (Punjab And Haryana) : Law Finder Doc id # 2907620
