College teachers not govt employees: SC

A large number of colleges, which are affiliated to universities in Maharashtra, cannot burden the state government with the leave encashment amount that they have paid to their teachers and staff on superannuation or when they leave the job.

The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the employees of colleges affiliated to state recognised universities aren’t ‘government servants’ and that they are not governed by the rules for state employees. They are autonomous.

The ruling was given on an appeal filed by the Maharashtra government, challenging a  judgement of the Bombay HC in 2008 that directed Pune’s Nowrosjee Wadia College to pay leave encashment to 11 teachers and “claim its reimbursement by way of grant from the Maharashtra government”.

The high court order was also challenged by Khandesh College Education Society. The  SC sought to examine whether the Maharashtra Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1981 applied to the teachers also, and it categorically concluded that “it (the rules) applies only to a government servant”.

Allowing the appeal by the state government, a bench of judges GS Singhvi and HL  Gokhale pointed out that the state had frequently issued directives to universities to amend their statutes, to ensure that teachers working in vacation departments are not entitled to earned leave and encashment. But they didn’t comply with the directives and instead argued that the reimbursement of leave encashment was deemed to be in force.

The SC held that “there is no provision either in the Poona University Act …which obligates the state government to extend the benefit of leave encashment to the university teachers or to the teachers of the affiliated colleges.”