Chandigarh, Nov 11: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Panjab University to regularise Assistant Professors who have been working on a contractual basis for more than 12 years, ruling that the institution “cannot exploit citizens nor take advantage of mass unemployment.”
Justice Jagmohan Bansal, while hearing the plea filed by contractual faculty members, said the petitioners were not “backdoor entrants” but were appointed through due process in 2012 against sanctioned posts. “The petitioners were appointed after following due procedure. They are fully qualified. They are working with the University since 2012 and that too without any protection of this Court or any other Court,” the Bench noted.
The court directed the university to regularise their services within six weeks and said that if no such order was passed within the stipulated period, “they shall be deemed to be regularised” and entitled to seniority and regular pay from the expiry of that period. The petitioners were represented by advocate Sarthak Gupta.
Justice Bansal criticised the trend of contractual hiring in education and other public departments, stating that governments and public institutions have “made hay” from a Constitution Bench judgment by using it to justify temporary appointments. “Many teachers appointed on contract basis are getting miniscule salary even in comparison to regularly appointed peons,” he observed.
He further remarked that public funds were being “siphoned off for subsidies instead of appointing regular employees and paying regular pay scale.” Calling the State a “model employer,” Justice Bansal said it could not “exploit its citizens or keep hanging sword of termination” over contractual staff who perform the same duties as permanent employees.
The judge also recorded that Panjab University’s counsel was unable to produce any judgment where regularisation was denied despite appointments made through due procedure and against sanctioned posts. “Despite being repeatedly asked, counsel for the respondent could not point out any judgment where regularization was denied,” the order read.
In his concluding remarks, Justice Bansal advised the university to extend similar consideration to other contractual teachers who have served for more than ten years. “To avoid litigation, the respondent may consider claims of other teachers in light of this judgment,” he stated. However, the court clarified that the university would remain free to fill other vacant posts through fresh advertisement.
