Nagaland: NNQF, CTAN seek review of court order; advt of 129 posts

The Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF) and the Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN) have raised concerns over a recent single-bench court order on backdoor/contractual appointments in the Higher Education department and reiterated their demand for early advertisement of the 129 newly created assistant professor posts.
Addressing the media here, NNQF core committee member Videkhonuo Yhoshü said the forum found it necessary to clarify developments following a single-bench judgment dated November 12 in cases challenging backdoor and contractual appointments in the department.
She said that the court held that the petitioners (NNQF members) lacked locus standi to challenge the appointments as they were not NET-qualified when the appointments (without advertisement) took place.
Videkhonuo said the interpretation of the judgment had caused widespread concern among aspirants and the public, as it implied that individuals who acquire eligibility after a backdoor appointment would have no legal right to challenge such appointments. She cautioned that the order, if left unreviewed, could deprive not only NNQF members or CESE aspirants but also educated unemployed youth in Nagaland of the right to challenge any future backdoor appointments.
She informed that it has appealed to a two-judge bench seeking review of the order, expressing faith in the judiciary.
NNQF and CTAN also flagged a discrepancy between the revoked attempted regularisation of 147 contractual assistant professor posts and the creation of 129 new posts, stating that both orders carried the same Personnel & Administrative Reforms (P&AR) and financial clearance numbers. She said an RTI response clarified that the 129 posts were not created to accommodate the revoked 147 posts, but confirmed that both shared identical clearance numbers following the revocation.
She noted that P&AR clearance was accorded in December 2022 and financial clearance in May 2023, while the attempted regularisation took place in 2024 and was revoked in 2025, followed by the creation of the 129 posts. She also highlighted inconsistencies in post distribution, stating that in some disciplines only two vacancies were created under the 129 posts while 13 existed under the revoked 147. In sociology, eight posts were created under the 129 posts compared to 15 under the revoked 147. She said that said such inconsistencies eroded public trust and required accountability.
Further, she pointed out that the 129 newly created assistant professor posts were yet to be advertised and that the annual CESE advertisement had also not been issued, urging the concerned authorities to expedite both at the earliest.
CTAN convenor Mesenlo Kath, elaborating on the court order, said the judgment implied that aspirants who became qualified after a backdoor appointment would be barred from challenging it.
He said this interpretation would severely undermine aspirants’ rights, particularly in departments with limited posts, and could be cited as a precedent to suppress future challenges against irregular appointments. On recruitment, Mesenlo said that after the revocation of the 147 posts, 34 posts were requisitioned to the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), followed by the creation of 129 posts, taking the total to 163 posts that should be forwarded to the commission.
He said NNQF and CTAN had ensured that all 163 posts were sent to NPSC.
Urging NPSC to adhere to its academic calendar, he said the absence of a chairman should not be cited as a reason for delaying advertisements, adding that appointing a chairman was the government’s responsibility.
Appealing for public support, he said the legal fight against backdoor appointments had been ongoing since 2015, initially pursued by ACAUT and later taken up by NNQF despite limited resources.