Tripura HC serves notice to state on petition by terminated teachers

Agartala, Apr 24 (PTI) The High Court of Tripura on Friday served a notice to the state government seeking its response within four weeks in response to a petition for direct recruitment of 8,000 terminated teachers with solace in Group-C and Group-D posts in various departments.

A single bench of Justice Arindam Lodh heard the petition filed by three teachers who sought legal help for direct recruitment as solace as provided by the apex court.

The 8,000 teachers are part of 10,323 teachers who were recruited in a phased manner since 2010 when the Left Front was in power and their jobs were terminated by the High Court in 2014 on the plea that the recruitment policy was faulty.

The teachers whose jobs were terminated had filed a petition in the Supreme Court stating that a notice was not served to them by the state government properly.

They had approached the High Court and the case was later taken to the Supreme Court.

One Bijoy Krishna Saha, a teacher whose service was terminated, said that the Supreme Courts order had stated that the sacked teachers could be appointed in these posts as solace.

However, the state government asked the teachers to appear in a written test along with other applicants.

"We have knocked the door of the judiciary as there is a difference between the state governments statement in the form of an affidavit before the Supreme Court and the stand they have taken now asking us to compete through a selection process, Saha said.

Advocate Somik Deb, who represented the case on behalf of the teachers, said the government had filed a miscellaneous affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that the teachers whose services were terminated can be recruited in the newly created 10,618 posts in a fresh appointment.

"We are of the view that the governments present stance is a major shift from their earlier stand. It is unjustified to ask the teachers to go through a selection process with freshers. It is also against the verdict of the apex court," Deb told reporters. PTI JOY MM MM