The Tripura High Court dismissed the appeal filed for setting aside the learned single judge order dated 22.09.2020, whereby he did not find any reason for the regularization of the Appellants in their services.
This Court was of the view that once the Appellant had accepted their engagement being fully aware of the conditions of the scheme, then they could not turn around and seek regularization of their services.
Brief Facts:
The Appellants were appointed under the School Education Department, Government of Tripura and not under any scheme of the Central Government. The appointments of the Appellants were duly intimated to Respondent No.3. They started serving as Madrasa teachers under a regular establishment of Madrassas prior to the application of the Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasa ("SPQEM"). Still, the Appellant was deprived of getting a regular pay scale even after completion of 5 years of service. They were instead getting paid on fixed pay basis @ Rs.2,200/- as per the appointment letter, whereas the minimum salary under the SPQEM is Rs.6,000/-.
The Appellant filed a writ petition in which the Court observed that since no permanent post had been created under the scheme, the Appellants could not claim regularization either to the Central Government or the State Government. The present petition was filed being aggrieved by the order dated 22.09.2020 passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C) No.617 of 2017.
Submission of the Appellant:
The learned Counsel for the Appellant submitted that the Appellants earlier approached this Court in 2015 by filing a series of writ petitions which were disposed of on 11.01.2016, directing the State Government to reconsider the recommendation made by the State Level Madrassa Advisory Committee afresh with regard to regularization of the Appellants by protecting their services and to place the matter before the Council of Ministers for their appropriate consideration. After that, the matter was placed before the Council of Ministers, who turned down the request but decided that these Madrassa teachers would be paid salaries at par with the State Government teachers at the elementary level. After this decision, their salary was enhanced to the level of the State Government teachers working in the elementary establishment, but the subsequent revisions of pay and annual increments were not extended to the Appellant.
Submission of the Respondent:
The learned Counsel for the Respondent submitted that the State-Level Madrassa Advisory Committee sent a proposal for regularization of the Appellants. Still, the State Government did not agree to that, more so, the posts under the scheme are not permanent, and as such, the Appellants cannot be regularized in the scheme. The learned Single Judge rightly arrived at a conclusion and committed no error while dismissing the writ petition.
Observation of the Court
This Court, after hearing both the parties, came to the view that the Appellants were appointed under the AIMMP scheme, which at that time was entirely a CCS scheme supported by the Central Government, and the posts were temporary posts created for the purpose of the scheme. The Appellant, being fully aware of the scheme's conditions, had accepted their engagement and now, they cannot turn around and seek regularization of their services. According to the conditions of the scheme, the State Government has no scope to regularize the services of the Appellant, and as such, they regretted the claim of the Appellants for their regularization. Therefore, the learned single Judge had rightly passed the impugned order by not regularising the services of the Appellant.
The decision of the Court:
The Tripura High Court dismissed the writ appeal as being devoid of any merit.
Case Title: Kazi Sirajul Islam and others vs State of Tripura and others
Coram: Hon’ble Chief Justice (Acting) and Justice Arindam Lodh
Case no.: W.A. No.86/2021
Advocate for the Appellants: Mr. Arijit Bhaumik
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. Debalay Bhattacharya
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
Picture Source :
