Jammu & Kashmir High Court Quashes Seniority Benefits For Rehbar-E-Taleem Teachers Prior To Regularization Of Services

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that seniority of ReT (Rehbar-E-Taleem) teachers must be reckoned from the date of appointment as a general line teacher and the pre-regularization period of five years will not be included for the purpose of fixing seniority.

The appellants had challenged the government order whereby the period of service of ReT teachers prior to regularisation was declared to be included for determining seniority.

A bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar, Sanjay Parihar observed that The ReT teachers becomes member of service constituted by the Rules of the 1979 only upon completion of five years satisfactory service as ReT and such period cannot be counted for fixing seniority.

The court held that the proviso inserted in the ReT Scheme, which allowed backdated seniority to ReTs from the date of initial engagement, was in conflict with Rule 24(1) of the J&K Civil Services Rules, 1956.

The court said that the rule clearly stipulates that seniority begins only from the date an employee becomes a member of the service and not before.

The court added that government's decision to grant retrospective seniority to ReTs ignored established principles of service law and prejudiced regular general line teachers, some of whom had joined long before the ReTs were regularized.

The court also said that the policy decision, which was implemented through a Cabinet order, was legally unsustainable, arbitrary, and inconsistent with both the 1979 Recruitment Rules and Rule 24 of the 1956 Rules.

The court said that the earlier in upholding the government order, the writ court was swayed by benefits of many welfare provisions extended to ReT teachers. However, the Court clarified that granting welfare benefits like casual leave, maternity leave, or counting service for pension purposes does not elevate the status of an ReT to that of a regular teacher.

The court drew a distinction between welfare measures and legal entitlement to seniority, emphasizing that policy convenience cannot override statutory service rules.

The court found merits in the contentions advanced by the appellants and allowed the petition consequencently setting aside the impugned provisio allowing the five years service rendered by Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers before regularization to be counted for the purpose of fixing their seniority.BACKGROUND

The J&K government introduced the Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) Scheme to address teacher shortages in schools by engaging locals as teaching guides. These ReTs were initially appointed for two years (extendable by three more years)

Regularization depended on performance evaluation by the competent authority, and engagement was village-specific.Thousands of ReTs were appointed across the state under this scheme and later regularized.

However, in 2014, government order amended the scheme to include a proviso stating that the five years of service as an ReT would count toward seniority and pension benefits. Additionally, regularized ReTs became eligible for intra-district transfers.

The appellant challenged this order on the ground that this change adversely affected the seniority of other General Line Teachers who had been appointed through the Jammu & Kashmir Service Selection Board (JKSSB). Hence the present appeal.

APPEARANCE

Adv. Tasaduq H. Khawja, with Abdul Muizz, Advocate, Advocate For Petitioner

Hakim Aman Ali Dy. AGZ.A. Shah, Sr. Advocate with A. Hanan, Advocate For Respondents

Case-Title: Anwar Hussain Wani & Ors vs State of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 206

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