The Tripura High Court on Thursday, January 8, struck down the state government’s 2001 and 2007 decisions that placed newly recruited government employees on a fixed salary for the first five years of service.
Advocate Purushottam Roy Barman, while explaining the verdict, said the court has made it clear that all eligible employees—including TET-qualified teachers and other permanent government staff—are entitled to their regular pay scale from the very first day of appointment.
According to him, the Division Bench of Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit disposed of two writ petitions that had been pending since 2001 and 2007. These cases challenged the government’s policy of paying a fixed salary even after employees were appointed against regular posts.
“The state government had earlier decided that despite being appointed on a regular scale, employees would be paid a fixed amount for five years. The High Court has now declared this policy unconstitutional,” Barman said. He added that the petitioners were forced to approach the court and could not be denied their constitutional rights.
The bench also directed that both graduate and postgraduate teachers must be paid as per the regular pay scale from the date they joined service. The ruling, Barman noted, will have a wider impact and will apply to all government employees in the state.
However, the court directed the 18 petitioners who filed the writ cases to pay Rs 2,000 each towards court expenses. It also observed that if the government fails to implement the order, affected employees are free to seek further legal remedies.
Calling the verdict “far-reaching,” Advocate Barman said it reinforces fair treatment and safeguards the constitutional rights of government employees across Tripura.