Supreme Court Calls 2018 Cancellation of Regularization Scheme Illegal, Orders Tripura Govt. to Regularize 8 DRW Employees Within 3 Months

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, March 6, 2026

In a major development with potentially far-reaching implications for thousands of government workers in Tripura, the Supreme Court of India has directed the state government to regularize eight Daily Rated Worker (DRW) employees of the Education Department within three months and pay them 30 percent of their pending dues along with pension benefits.

Senior advocate Purushottam Roy Barman, who was associated with the case, said the apex court’s verdict has effectively declared that the 2018 decision to cancel the regularization scheme introduced during the Left Front government was illegal. He added that the judgment could open a legal pathway for a large number of irregular government employees in the state to claim regular pay and service benefits.

According to Roy Barman, the Supreme Court delivered the order on February 28, clearly stating that employees cannot be denied regularization merely on the ground that a government scheme has been cancelled. The court reportedly observed that the action taken by the Tripura government was not only illegal but also unconstitutional.

The case involved eight irregular employees working in Kanchanpur and Ganganagar areas of Tripura, who had been serving for 25 years without being granted regular status. After approaching the Supreme Court, the employees secured a significant ruling directing the state government to regularize their services within three months and release 30 percent of their pending salary along with pension benefits.

The case has a long legal history. In 2022, Justice Arindam Lodh of the Tripura High Court dismissed the petition of the eight employees and refused to grant them regular pay. Earlier, on July 21, 2018, the Tripura government under then Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had cancelled the regularization scheme for irregular employees that had been introduced during the earlier Left Front government.

After their petition was rejected by the single bench of the Tripura High Court, the employees moved the division bench, but their appeal was dismissed there as well. Subsequently, the workers approached the Supreme Court with the help of advocate Purushottam Roy Barman.

During the proceedings in the apex court, two lawyers closely associated with Roy Barman Shri Ajit Wagh and Shri Marley Parle, represented the employees. According to Roy Barman, the two lawyers fought the case for a long time without charging any legal fees, considering the humanitarian aspects of the matter.

Speaking to journalists after receiving a copy of the judgment, Roy Barman today said the Supreme Court’s ruling could have major implications for nearly 40,000 irregular employees working in various government departments across Tripura.

He emphasized that the court has made it clear that cancellation of a government scheme cannot be used as a justification to deny regularization to employees who have been working for years in government departments.

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