30 years in remote Sundarbans school: Why Calcutta High Court ordered West Bengal to regularise ‘unapproved’ teacher

Justice Rai Chattopadhyay concluded that when a sanctioned vacant post exists, a legitimate expectation of formal recognition had arisen. (Image enhanced using AI)

Highlighting that the post in question now stands sanctioned, and the requirement of a teacher in that subject continues to subsist in view of the number of students in the school, the order added that to deny approval to the petitioner at this stage would not only be inequitable but would also disrupt the academic functioning of an institution located in a remote area where qualified teachers are not easily available.

The legal tug-of-war: Irregular vs Illegal

• The petitioner, Md. Jahangir Laskar was appointed as a temporary Philosophy teacher by the managing committee of a school in a remote area of the Sundarban in South 24 Parganas District in November 1996.
• Although the school had been upgraded to higher secondary status in the academic year 1996-97, it lacked a qualified teacher on the payroll for philosophy, a subject it was permitted to introduce.
• Appearing for the Laskar, senior advocate Milan Bhattacharjee submitted that the petitioner possessed the requisite qualifications and continuously discharged his duties for 30 years to “the fullest satisfaction of all concerned”.
• The case reached the high court after the state refused to regularise his service, arguing the appointment was “illegal” because it bypassed statutory recruitment procedures, including open advertisements and formal vacancies.

Teacher’s stand

• Senior counsel for the petitioner argued that the petitioner has been provided with the class routine and is taking regular classes in the subject, similarly like the other approved permanent teachers in the school.
• He further argued that the petitioner has been a duly qualified teacher in the said post, completely eligible to impart education to the students in the subject of Philosophy.
• He stated that the petitioner has delivered his service throughout the period of about 30 years in a substantive nature of post and such substantive continuous service of the petitioner stands akin to permanent teachers.
• He argued that the principles of equity, fairness, and intent behind the employment regulations duly recognise the substantive and continuous nature of service.

‘Appointed in academic interest of students’

• It is not in dispute that the petitioner has been discharging duties as a teacher of the concerned subject for more than 30 years in the respondent school situated in a remote area where educational institutions are scarce.
• The materials placed on record indicate that the managing committee of the school had adopted a resolution engaging the petitioner to teach the said subject in view of the necessity of imparting instruction to the students.
• It is also undisputed that the petitioner possesses the requisite educational qualifications for the post and has continuously discharged his duties since the date of his engagement.
• The circumstances of the case do not indicate any backdoor entry or clandestine appointment.
• The petitioner was engaged by a resolution of the managing committee of the school to meet an immediate academic requirement in a subject which the institution was obliged to teach for the benefit of the local people.
• The engagement was thus made in furtherance of the academic interest of the students rather than for the purpose of circumventing the statutory recruitment process.

• The petitioner has also been found to possess the necessary academic qualifications, which further negates the suggestion that his engagement was arbitrary or lacking in merit.
• Applying the principles of the relevant apex court judgement, the petitioner’s engagement, at worst, suffered from procedural irregularities such as the absence of prior permission from the district inspector of schools and the fact that the formal sanction of the post followed the engagement.
• These circumstances cannot, however, obliterate the reality that the petitioner has served the institution continuously for three decades, during which period the authorities have derived the benefit of his services.

A legitimate expectation: Order

• A sanctioned vacant post has also been approved in the institution for the subject concerned.
• For such an extended period, when there exists a sanctioned vacant post, a legitimate expectation has arisen that his services, which have been continuously utilised by the authorities, would receive formal recognition.
• The Supreme Court in Amarkant Rai v State of Bihar recognised that prolonged service coupled with the existence of a sanctioned post may justify regularisation or, otherwise, judicial intervention to prevent manifest injustice.

‘Can’t be oblivious to realities of rural educational institutions’

• We cannot be oblivious to the peculiar realities of rural and remote educational institutions, where strict adherence to procedural formalities at the inception often gives way to the pressing need to ensure that students are not deprived of instruction in essential subjects.
• In such circumstances, the engagement of a qualified teacher by the managing committee to meet an immediate academic necessity cannot be characterised as a backdoor entry.
• The fact that the petitioner possesses the requisite educational qualifications, the subsequent sanction of the post for the subject, the continuing academic necessity in the school, and the absence of any material indicating fraud or backdoor entry.