New Delhi: Security of tenure for a teacher or lecturer, who dedicates his or her life for educating students, is of utmost importance and no form of insecurity should be created in the employment of contract teachers by giving an “artificial break” in their service, the Supreme Court has held.
Giving this ruling, a bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Sanjay Kishan Kaul strongly deprecated the practice of school and college managements giving a break of a day or two in service of contract teachers after every academic year to deny them benefits enjoyed by other regular employees.
The bench made the observation while upholding an appeal filed by Ahalya A. Samtaney, a lecturer in a private college in Maharashtra, who was denied higher pay scale because of a one-day break in service. Agreeing with her contentions, Justice Kaul, who wrote the judgment, said what is termed as a break was an “artificial break”. The bench held that the appellant is entitled to a higher pay-scale and all benefits that were denied due to the “artificial break” in her service.
