Signing you in

A division bench of Justices R Suresh Kumar and V Lakshminarayanan was dealing with a plea of guest lecturers who were working in various government arts and science colleges, including 14 government constituent colleges. These lecturers were appointed through college-level selections or walk-in interviews and had tenure for periods ranging from five to 15 years.

Rejecting the petitioners’ plea of regularisation and emphasising the transparency of appointments, the court said, “At least from the time the Macaulay Committee submitted its report in 1854, ‘Patronage System’ had lost its relevance and selection for candidates is based on thorough knowledge of the subject concerned and not on a superficial one.”

Noting that a good teacher fosters curiosity and encourages a student to continue on the path that is pointed out by the teacher, long after he/she has left the institution, and in some cases, till the end of their lives, the order underscored the significance of competent teachers in the system.

It further added that this court strongly deprecates the practice adopted by the State of Tamil Nadu in appointing guest lecturers to attend to the important function of teaching basic Arts and Science and Technology subjects to students. Lots of Courts’ time had been wasted on such litigation. The bench noted that the guest lecturers are rightly anguished on account of the state dragging its feet in making regular appointments.

The case involved thousands of guest lecturers who had been appointed through various college-level selection committees and walk-in interviews over several years. In 2020, the state government issued an order proposing to regularise 1,146 guest lecturers through a special test or interview process.

In 2022, following the Supreme Court directive, the state government shifted its policy and issued new orders. These new orders mandated that recruitment for assistant professor posts be conducted through a written competitive examination administered by the TRB. This policy shift was challenged by the guest lectures, leading to a single-judge order quashing the 2022 orders and mandating regularisation under the 2020 order policy.