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National Institute of Technology vs. Om Prakash Rahi

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 371Decided 30 Mar 2022
Civil Appeal No. 2575 of 2022

Background

Several teachers at NIT Hamirpur (formerly a Regional Engineering College) were placed in a higher pay band and re-designated as Associate Professors directly by the Institute's Director, on the basis that they had simply completed three years of service in their existing grade. This was done without following the formal process required under applicable Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) guidelines: namely, review by a duly constituted Selection Committee and approval of the Board of Governors. The Ministry later refused to approve these promotions since the correct procedure had not been followed, prompting the teachers to challenge that refusal, and the Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled in the teachers' favour, holding that the newer MHRD guidelines did not bind NIT and that older 2008 guidelines supported the promotions.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in relying on the 2008 MHRD guidelines, which were meant for universities generally and did not apply to NITs: the specific and later 2009, 2012 and 2013 guidelines applicable to NITs required promotions to go through a Selection Committee and be approved by the Board of Governors, not merely be granted by the Director on completion of a set number of years. Since neither of those steps had been followed, the Director's orders were not legally valid, and the High Court's reasoning that MHRD had no authority to issue such guidelines after the NIT Act, 2007 came into force was rejected. However, since the affected teachers had already been working in the higher grade for years without fault of their own, the Court did not strip them of their posts outright, instead it directed the Institute to formally process their cases for the higher pay band and re-designation within four months, following the proper Selection Committee procedure, and to protect their current position in the meantime.

Lesson Learnt

A head of an institution cannot bypass the legally prescribed selection and approval procedure for career advancement/promotion, even if the employee otherwise appears deserving: proper process must still be followed, though employees who benefited in good faith from a flawed process may still get a fair chance to be considered afresh rather than having their status abruptly withdrawn.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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