Chandigarh: In a significant order, the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has paved the way for a faculty member of a private government-aided college to continue in service till the age of 65 instead of retiring at the age of 60. The bench directed the Union of India and other respondents to “offer” the petitioner-associate professor the option of continuing in service till then at par with government teachers. The direction by Justice Sanjay Vashisht assumes significance as petitioner Kulwinder Singh had raised a plea of discrimination. His case was that teaching staff posted in Panjab University retired at the age of 65 following a notification issued by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, Department of Higher Education on March 23, 2007. But staff posted in privately managed government-aided college and affiliated to Panjab University retired at the age of 60. In an effort to ensure a coherent and comprehensive solution, Justice Vashisht also recommended tagging all pleas involving retirement age of teaching staff in government colleges, private government-aided colleges and university-affiliated colleges. The bench suggested that the lawyers concerned may request the high court registry to list these cases together.
Kulwinder Singh, through senior advocate Sanjay Majithia, was seeking quashing of the April 10 letter under which he was being asked to retire on attaining the age of 60 years ignoring the March 2007 notification. Justice Vasishta’s bench was also told that there is no clarity and uniformity in judicial pronouncements on the issue. In some cases, interim stays continue even after individuals have crossed 60 years. In some other cases, a plea seeking enhancement of the retirement age of teaching staff posted in government-aided colleges affiliated to the Punjab University from 60 to 65 was rejected. Justice Vasishta stressed that the court cannot ignore the fact that education is a fundamental right of every citizen of the country. Also, it is the constitutional obligation of the state to provide education to its citizens by providing proper, suitable and adequate infrastructure. Justice Vashisht said, “It is a matter of debate that since the colleges are affiliated to either a state or central university and teachers appointed in such universities are allowed to retire at the age of 65, whether staff teachers of private, government-aided colleges doing the same work and operating under the same rules can be compelled to retire at the age of 60.”Chandigarh: In a significant order, the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has paved the way for a faculty member of a private government-aided college to continue in service till the age of 65 instead of retreating at the age of 60. The bench directed the Union of India and other respondents to “offer” the petitioner-associate professor the right to continue in service till then on par with government teachers.
The direction by Justice Sanjay Vashisht is significant as petitioner Kulwinder Singh had raised a plea of discrimination. His case was that teaching staff posted in the Punjab University retired at the age of 65 following a notification issued by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, Department of Higher Education on March 23, 2007. But employees posted in privately managed government-aided colleges and those affiliated to the Punjab University retired at the age of 60. In an effort to ensure a coherent and comprehensive solution, Justice Vasishta also recommended tagging all pleas involving the retirement age of teaching staff in government colleges, private government-aided colleges and university-affiliated colleges. The bench suggested that the lawyers concerned may request the high court registry to list these cases together. Kulwinder Singh, through senior advocate Sanjay Majithia, was seeking quashing of the April 10 letter under which he was being asked to retire on attaining the age of 60, ignoring the March 2007 notification. Justice Vasishta’s bench was also told that there was no clarity and uniformity in judicial pronouncements on the issue. In some cases, interim stays continued even after individuals crossed 60 years. In some other cases, a plea seeking increase in the retirement age of teaching staff posted in government-aided colleges affiliated to the Punjab University from 60 to 65 was rejected. Justice Vasishta stressed that the court cannot ignore the fact that education is a fundamental right of every citizen of the country. Also, it is the constitutional obligation of the state to impart education to its citizens by providing proper, suitable and adequate infrastructure. “It is a matter of debate that since the colleges are affiliated to either a state or central university and teachers appointed in such universities are allowed to retire at the age of 65, whether the staff teachers of private, government-aided colleges doing the same work and operating under the same rules can be compelled to retire at the age of 60,” Justice Vasishta said.
