Telangana HC junks lecturer’s plea for service regularisation

The college lecturer's petition sought retrospective regularisation of her service from June 1994 instead of October 1996.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has dismissed a college lecturer’s petition seeking retrospective regularisation of her service from June 1994 instead of October 1996.

The claim was legally unsustainable, said the court, because of an irregular initial appointment and an unexplained 19-year delay in seeking legal recourse, according to News Meter.

Delivering the verdict, Justice Juvvadi Sridevi said equitable remedy cannot be extended to litigants who sleep on their rights for decades.

The petitioner was Dr. D. Nalini Reddy, who was appointed as a Telugu lecturer at Nrupatunga Junior College in Hyderabad in June 1994 to cover a temporary vacancy. In early 1995, the permanent staff member retired, and the post became permanently vacant. However, the state government sanctioned Dr Reddy’s regular appointment only on October 14, 1996.

Backdated regularisation

She then approached the court seeking backdated regularisation to her initial joining date in 1994, arguing that her continuous service and required qualifications entitled her to seniority and pension benefits from day one.

Opposing the petition, the state counsel contended that Dr. Reddy’s initial 1994 engagement was executed without mandatory approval from the educational authorities.

Upholding the state’s stance, Justice Sridevi said that Dr. Reddy accepted her 1996 regular appointment without objection for nearly two decades before submitting a representation in 2015.

An initial temporary appointment cannot automatically be regularised simply because a permanent vacancy arose subsequently, the court said.

Because Dr. Reddy entered regular service under the updated statutory framework in 1996, she could not claim parity, the court said, dismissing her writ petition.