Supreme Court Verdict on Contractual Teachers in Jharkhand
The apex Supreme Court has ruled that contractually employed teachers cannot be automatically regularised merely on the basis of long‑service. The bench, comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti, held that such regularisation would create a parallel recruitment stream outside the statutory framework prescribed by the Constitution.
Key Developments
- The Court rejected the claim that para‑teachers have a legal right to become permanent para‑teachers after 5‑15 years of service.
- It affirmed the State’s constitutional power under Article 309 to decide suitability and to conduct recruitment through statutory processes.
- The judgment cited the precedent Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (2006) to underline that judicial interference cannot override recruitment rules.
- The Court directed Jharkhand to implement the existing reservation of 50 % of vacancies for para‑teachers under the Jharkhand Primary School Recruitment Rules, 2012 and the 2022 Sahayak Acharya Cadre Rules.
- It urged periodic performance audits and timely notification of vacancies to eliminate ad‑hocism.
Important Facts
The petitions were filed by a batch of para‑teachers engaged under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Jharkhand. They had served for 5 to 15 years on a fixed honorarium of ₹7,400‑₹8,400 per month and sought:
- Regularisation as Assistant Teachers / Sahayak Acharyas.
- Pay parity with regular government teachers.
- A declaration that the 2012 recruitment rules were unconstitutional for not providing autom