Tripura High Court Strikes Down Fixed Pay Recruitment Policy, Orders Full Pay Scale with Arrears Since 2001

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, January 8, 2026

In a landmark judgment with far-reaching consequences, the Tripura High Court has struck down the state government’s decades-old policy of appointing employees on fixed pay despite recruitment against regular posts. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit delivered the final verdict on a batch of long-pending writ petitions filed by several affected employees.

According to senior advocate Purushottam Roy Barman, who represented the petitioners, the High Court has categorically held that the practice of appointing teachers, non-teaching staff, and other government officers and employees on fixed pay for years together was unconstitutional and violative of fundamental rights.

The court directed that all such employees, who were appointed from 2001 onwards on fixed pay against regular posts, must be granted full regular pay scale along with arrears calculated from the very first day with 9% interest of their appointments. This includes employees who were appointed under the fixed-pay system introduced by the then left front government through rules framed in the years 2000 and 2007.

The Division Bench clearly observed that forcing unemployed youths to work for five years or more on a reduced fixed salary, despite offering appointments to regular posts, amounted to an unconstitutional government policy. The court further declared that the recruitment rules framed by the state government in 2000 and 2007 to allow fixed-pay appointments against permanent posts were illegal and against the spirit of the Constitution.

As a consequence of the cancellation of these rules, the High Court has ruled that all employees who served on fixed pay since 2001 are entitled to regular pay scales along with all consequential financial benefits, including arrears with 9% interest.

Speaking to the media after the judgment, advocate Purushottam Roy Barman stated that the impact of this historic verdict would be wide-ranging and long-lasting, benefiting a large number of government employees across various departments in Tripura who were subjected to the fixed-pay system for years.

The judgment is expected to place significant financial obligations on the state government while also bringing long-awaited relief and justice to thousands of employees who had been demanding equal pay for equal work for over two decades.

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