Raising teachers’ retirement age untenable, Chandigarh Administration tells Punjab and Haryana High Court

Chandigarh, July 4

The Chandigarh Administration today approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court stating, among other things, that the claim of the professors and teachers of the UT government colleges on increasing the age of superannuation from 58 to 65 on the basis of UGC/AICTE regulations was untenable.

After hearing the matter at length, the Division Bench of Justice Jaishree Thakur and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur issued notice of motion and notice regarding stay on the petition for July 13. The Bench during the course of hearing was told that the dispute related to the period prior to the latest notification dated March 29, whereby the cutoff date was fixed with effect from April 1, 2022.

Appointed special counsel in the matter, senior advocate Chetan Mittal on behalf of the Chandigarh Administration argued that the UT adopted the Punjab Civil Service Rules 1992, which prescribed 58 as retirement age.

Assisted by advocates Mayank Aggarwal, Himanshu Gupta and Shifali Goyal, Mittal added the age of superannuation changed in the absence of amendment to the rules. The AICTE or UGC regulations provided for a different age of superannuation. But the same was not applicable ipso facto to the UT.

Mittal also argued that the UT itself was a state for the purpose of enactment of laws pertaining to service conditions and these regulations were only applicable if specifically adopted by the UT. It was further argued that the MHRD decision only related to the Centrally-funded institutes (CFIs). UT government colleges did not fall within the definition of CFIs.

The funds provided by the Centre were not paid directly to the institutions, but through the UT following budget allocation. It was further argued that the Central Administrative Tribunal’s decision in the matter would result in huge financial implication on the UT Administration.

AICTE/UGC norm not applicable

• Professors and teachers of UT government colleges want retirement age raised to 65 in accordance with the UGC/AICTE regulations
• UT Administration claims it adopted the Punjab Civil Service Rules 1992, which provides 58 as the age of superannuation
• It argues Centre’s move only related to Centrally funded institutes and UT government colleges don’t fall in that category