The Madras High Court recently imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on the Tamil Nadu government for filing frivolous appeals in an effort to avoid paying arrears of salaries to a group of assistant professors appointed in 2009
A Bench consisting of Justices R Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri of the Madurai bench criticized the State for playing an “atrocious game” with the citizens and expressed hope that the costs would discourage such appeals in the future.
The case involved 10 writ appeals filed by the State last year, challenging a single-judge’s order that directed the government to pay the pending salaries of the assistant professors from 2009 onward. In 2009, the State government had appointed assistant professors at government colleges in Tirunelveli district. However, the Joint Director of Collegiate Education only approved the appointments in 2020, backdating them to 2009.
The next day, State authorities abruptly cancelled the appointments without providing any reasons. The affected assistant professors challenged the cancellation in the High Court. While the case was still pending, the Director of Collegiate Education revoked the cancellation order, reaffirming the appointments. A single-judge then ordered the government to pay the professors’ salaries and arrears.
During the current appeal, the State argued that it lacked the funds to pay the arrears. The Court rejected this claim and imposed ₹50,000 in costs on the government for each of the 10 appeals, directing that ₹25,000 be paid to each assistant professor and the remaining ₹25,000 to a local cancer care foundation.
The Court noted, “We hope that this order will at least serve as a deterrent and the Government will avoid filing such writ appeals in the future,” adding that the government could recover the costs from the officers responsible for filing the appeals.
Additional Government Pleader J Ashok represented the State, while Advocate T Cibi Chakraborthy appeared for the assistant professors.
(With inputs from agency)
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