DIMAPUR, SEP 30 (NPN): Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF) has welcomed the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench judgment quashing two earlier rulings in the long-running dispute over contractual appointments in the Department of Higher Education, saying the verdict has addressed constitutional questions that had previously been dismissed on technical grounds.
According to NNQF, a division bench of the High Court has held that the contractual appointments challenged by the forum violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution and Regulation 13 of the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations.
The forum said the judgment also directed the state government not to extend the contracts and to ensure that future appointments comply with prescribed recruitment norms.
NNQF said it had been filing writ petitions before the Kohima Bench since 2019 challenging what it described as the constitutionality and legality of hundreds of contractual appointments to posts of assistant professor and librarian in the department of higher education.
The forum alleged that many of the appointments had been made without open advertisements and that several appointees did not possess the requisite qualifications, including National Eligibility Test (NET) qualification, at the time of appointment.
It further alleged that annual extensions of the contracts had effectively allowed the appointments to continue indefinitely.
NNQF said the petitions had earlier been dismissed through judgments delivered in 2022 and 2025 by single-judge benches on grounds including maintainability and locus standi, without examining the substantive challenges raised against the appointments.
According to the forum, the 2026 division bench judgment has now quashed those earlier judgments, finding that the approach adopted by the single judge was not in conformity with settled constitutional principles.
NNQF highlighted the bench’s observation that constitutional questions concerning Articles 14 and 16 should not have been repeatedly thwarted on the question of maintainability without examining the underlying constitutional principles.
The forum also said the division bench rejected the state government’s reliance on Regulation 13 of the UGC regulations to justify the contractual appointments.
While the regulation permits contractual appointments under specified circumstances, NNQF pointed out that it also prescribes conditions relating to qualifications and the selection procedure.
According to the forum, the court found that these requirements had not been complied with and observed that the state appeared to have taken cognisance only of the first sentence of Regulation 13.
NNQF said the court had, apart from quashing the earlier judgments, declared the contractual appointments violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution and Regulation 13 of the UGC regulations. It said the court had also directed that no further extensions be granted to the contract employees.
According to the forum, the state government has been directed either to create adequate posts and requisition them through the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) or to appoint contractual teachers strictly in accordance with Regulation 13, including through due advertisement.
NNQF said the judgment would have implications for the department of higher education, existing contractual faculty and aspiring teachers and academics seeking public employment in the state.
The forum described the ruling as significant for what it termed accountability, transparency and equity in public employment, and said it had reaffirmed its faith in the judiciary.
NNQF also acknowledged organisations, groups and individuals who had contributed to the case, describing the outcome as a collective achievement.
Thursday, October 1, 2026