Government Formally Rejects Regularization Claims on Legal Grounds

The Haryana Government has dealt a decisive blow to approximately 12,000 guest teachers across the state who were seeking permanent status in the cadre. In an official speaking order issued by the School Education Department, the state rejected the regularization claims submitted by teachers who have served for over two decades. The administration clarified that the initial appointment process of guest teachers did not conform to established statutory recruitment protocols, rendering them legally ineligible for the benefits outlined in the state's 2014 regularization framework. The decision follows prolonged litigation and is widely anticipated to trigger another legal round before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.Compliance With High Court Directives: The Speaking Order Under ScrutinyThe comprehensive administrative decision was formulated in compliance with legal directives arising from the case of Sukhwinder Singh v. State of Haryana:On May 25, 2026, a single-judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had instructed the government to consider the petitioners' claims for permanent absorption.Following an appeal filed by the state government, the Division Bench of the High Court modified the directive on August 6, 2026, ordering the competent authority to evaluate the claims strictly on the basis of existing policy facts and established legal precedents.The court held that if the applicants satisfied all policy stipulations, regularization should follow; otherwise, the state was instructed to pass a reasoned speaking order detailing the grounds for denial.The School Education Department concluded that the contractual educators fail to meet the mandatory prerequisite benchmarks established under the 2014 policy notifications.Decentralized Hiring as Core Barrier: Lack of Merit Tests and Reservation NormsIn its detailed finding, the education department highlighted that the nature of guest teacher appointments was inherently temporary and localized:Engaged on a per-period honorarium basis since 2005 to address acute immediate teacher vacancies, candidate selection was executed by local school principals, headmasters, and regional officials rather than a centralized recruitment agency.The appointments bypassed centralized competitive selection, written examination merit rankings, and mandatory constitutional reservation procedures applicable to regular public employment.Citing the regularization notifications issued on June 16 and June 18, 2014, the department stated that the policy mandates sanctioned cadre posts, specified educational qualifications, and approved recruitment procedures with zero scope for discretionary relaxation.Long Service Not a Ground for Regularization: Supreme Court Precedents AppliedThe government anchored its rejection on established constitutional jurisprudence regarding ad-hoc public appointments:Relying on the Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court of India in the landmark Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Uma Devi case, the department maintained that prolonged service alone cannot confer a vested right to regularization.The administration also referenced the apex court's ruling in the Madan Singh case, noting that testing the legal validity of the 2014 policies does not waive the non-negotiable statutory eligibility criteria prescribed within them.Addressing the reliance on Jaggo v. Union of India, the state order clarified that experience-based judicial relief cannot be automatically applied in blanket favor of the guest teacher cadre.2019 Guest Teachers Act: Job Continuity Guaranteed Without Regular Pay ScaleThe department further clarified the legislative intent behind the Haryana Guest Teachers Service Act, 2019:The statutory enactment was formulated to ensure job security and tenure continuity up to retirement age, shielding guest faculty from arbitrary removal.The legislation does not mandate absorption into the regular state civil service cadre, nor does it guarantee regular government pay scales or attendant pensionary benefits.With internal friction growing between factions advocating peaceful negotiation and those staging agitational protests, the legal denial pushes the guest teacher community toward an immediate judicial review before the High Court to contest the executive order.