High Court directs State to create regular posts and fill vacancies through NPSC
Nagaland’s government colleges have relied on contractual and fixed-pay Assistant Professors for years, with some teachers continuing in service through repeated extensions for as long as 16 years. A Gauhati High Court judgment has now questioned that system, directing the State to create adequate regular posts while barring further extensions of the contractual services covered by the case.
The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court, in its September 23 judgment, held that the contractual appointments and repeated annual extensions challenged before it violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution and Regulation 13 of the UGC Regulations.
The court observed that the State had continued the appointments through successive extensions and said that “infractions to Article 16 of the Constitution are being perpetuated by granting extensions after extensions.”
The case concerns 15 government colleges in Nagaland. According to figures placed before the court, there were 636 Assistant Professors as of March 1, 2024 — 491 regular and 145 fixed-pay contractual.
Some of the contractual teachers had served for nine to 16 years through successive extensions.
The State had told the court that no sanctioned Assistant Professor posts had been created since 2017 and that contractual appointments were required to address subject shortages and maintain the student-teacher ratio.
The court did not accept this as sufficient to continue the arrangement without following the constitutional and UGC requirements. It held that being appointed on a temporary or contractual basis does not take a person outside the requirement of equal opportunity in public employment.
“Every qualified candidate has a right under Article 14 and Article 16 of the Constitution to be considered for appointment to any office under the State,” the court said.
A major issue was the State’s reliance on Regulation 13.1 of the UGC Regulations, which allows contractual appointments in specified circumstances to meet deficiencies in the student-teacher ratio.
The regulation, however, places conditions on such appointments, including a limit of 10% of the total faculty strength.
In Nagaland, the court noted, 145 of the 636 Assistant Professors were contractual — around 23%.
The court also found that other conditions under the regulation had not been followed. The State, it observed, appeared to have taken into account the student-teacher ratio requirement while failing to comply with the other conditions.
The judgment further records that 32 Assistant Professors had initially been appointed without the minimum requisite qualifications. Subsequent notifications requiring them to acquire the qualifications within two or three years, the court noted, indicated that the contractual arrangement was being continued over a longer period.
The court also found that contractual teachers were being paid “not even one third of the gross salary for Assistant Professor”, despite the UGC provision that the remuneration should not be less than the monthly gross salary of a regularly appointed Assistant Professor.
Appointments and extensions were also being made year-wise instead of following the academic-session framework under the UGC regulation.
The court set aside two November 12, 2025 judgments of the Single Judge, which had dismissed the challenges on the ground of locus standi without examining the substantive issues.
It did not cancel the latest extensions already granted to the teachers concerned, citing the possibility of disruption in the colleges and an adverse impact on the teacher-student ratio.
Instead, it ordered that “no further extension shall be granted to their contractual services.”
The State has been directed to take effective steps to create adequate posts in the 15 government colleges and to requisition regular vacancies through the Nagaland Public Service Commission.
The court also made clear that contractual appointments have not been completely ruled out. If the State is unable to create the required posts because of financial constraints, contractual appointments may continue, but only in strict compliance with Regulation 13.1 of the UGC Regulations, 2018, including due advertisement.
The court further observed that “it is high time that the State of Nagaland should create posts.
