The Supreme Court has dismissed a review petition filed by the Nagaland government seeking reconsideration of its earlier order in favour of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) teachers’ batch of 2016, bringing finality to a long-running pay dispute.
A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K Vinod Chandran, in its order dated January 15, 2026, rejected the review petition and disposed of all pending applications connected with the matter. The court also rejected an application seeking an oral hearing.
While condoning the delay in filing the review petition, the bench, after perusing the plea seeking review of its May 20, 2025 order, found no merit warranting reconsideration.
Earlier, on May 20, 2025, the apex court had dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state government challenging a March 2022 judgment of the Gauhati High Court. The High Court had directed the state to grant scale pay to RMSA teachers in the pay band of Rs 9,300–Rs 34,800 with grade pay of Rs 4,200.
Following the dismissal of the SLP, the state government filed the review petition in August 2025, seeking a reconsideration of the Supreme Court’s order.
A total of 367 teachers recruited under RMSA in 2016 have been engaged in a prolonged legal battle with the state government over the implementation of scale pay, as upheld by the Gauhati High Court. The matter reached the Supreme Court in 2025 after the state challenged the High Court order through an SLP, which was dismissed.
As per the Revised Pay (ROP) Rules, 2017, RMSA teachers are entitled to scale pay in the range of Rs 9,300–Rs 34,800 with grade pay of Rs 4,200. However, the teachers have continued to receive a fixed remuneration of Rs 31,315 per month.
In protest against the state government’s alleged failure to implement court orders, the RMSA Teachers’ batch of 2016 launched a series of protests, which intensified in C 2025. After nearly a month of demonstrations, the teachers kept the agitation in abeyance following assurances from the state government that the issue would be resolved within a stipulated timeframe.
With the dismissal of the review petition, the Supreme Court has now closed all avenues of challenge available to the state government in the case.
