National awardee Teacher wins service extension and arrears in Court

Himachalscape bureau March 13, 2025 3 minutes read

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Shimla, March 13,

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The Himachal Pradesh High Court, in a ruling on March 10, 2025, has sided with a retired school principal, granting him the right to two years of service extension and one additional increment. Justice Sandeep Sharma presided over the case (CWP No.2683 of 2024) and approved the judgment for reporting.

Bhupinder Gupta, a National Award-winning teacher, had initially been denied the extension and increment despite being eligible under government notifications from 2015. The court’s decision quashes the communications dated February 11 and February 15, 2024, which rejected Gupta’s request for these benefits. The ruling directs the Himachal Pradesh government to grant Gupta a two-year extension from May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2026, along with the additional increment from September 5, 2016 — the date he received the National Award — including all consequential arrears with interest.

“ Consequently, in view of above detailed discussion made hereinabove, this Court finds merits in the present petition and accordingly, the same is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to grant benefit of extension in service to the petitioner being his National Awardee in terms of notifications dated 24.09.2015 and 30.11.2015, directed the court in a 13 page order. Adding,” Since petitioner has been fighting for his rightful claim for quite long, this Court hopes and trusts that needful in terms of instant order shall be done, expeditiously, preferably within a period of three weeks.”

Gupta began his tenure in 1989 as a Lecturer in Commerce and was later appointed on a regular basis through the Public Service Commission in October 1994. He was promoted to Principal on June 23, 2011. Recognized for his exceptional contributions to education, he was honored with the National Award on September 5, 2016. In line with a government notification dated September 24, 2015, National Awardee teachers were entitled to a two-year service extension and one additional increment. This policy was further clarified on November 30, 2015, stipulating that cash awards given to awardee teachers would be deducted from their salary in twelve equal installments.

However, the government withdrew these notifications on July 19, 2023. Gupta’s plea argued that the withdrawal could not retroactively nullify the benefits he was already eligible for. The court concurred, emphasizing that Gupta’s right to an extension accrued in 2016 when he received the National Award and that his claim could not be dismissed due to subsequent policy changes.

Notably, the government issued a fresh notification on February 6, 2025, reinstating the earlier provisions for National and State Awardee teachers. Under this policy, National Awardees are once again eligible for a two-year extension, provided they apply six months before their retirement. Those opting out of the extension can receive a one-time cash reward of Rs. 60,000.

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