Big jolt to Punjab, Apex court quashes 1158 appointments
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ July 14,2025
Supreme Court has quashed the appointments of 1158 college faculty including 1091 assistant professors and 67 librarians in government colleges across the state.
The move follows writ petitions from some candidates alleging irregularities in the selection process of 1,091 assistant professors and 67 librarians in government colleges across the state
SC has questioned the government’s handling of the selection process. The panels were formed after some candidates filed petitions alleging irregularities in the merit-based selection process.
“I attended (virtually) the whole Supreme Court sessions. The outcome of the case depends on the interpretations of Article 162 and entry 66 of the concurrent list, which address state power and quality of higher education. Advocates for guest faculty are Sr. Adv Raju Ramchandran, Sr. Adv. Nidesh Gupta, Former judge of Delhi high court Justice Rekha Palli and Sr. Adv. Shyam Dhawan. The case of 1158 teachers was represented by Sr. Adv. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Rakesh Dwivedi and Sr. Adv. Paramjit Singh Patwalia. In my observation, advocates of Guest Faculty (Specially Sr. Adv. Nidesh Gupta) delivered a strong presentation than other side. Their arguments were more comprehensive and structured. But my heart and thoughts are with 1158 teachers. I hope they win the case and retain their jobs” Varun shared this on his social media account.
But the supreme court questioned the selection process adopted by the government and ignoring the Punjab Public Service Commission to do this selection process.
Earlier in September 2024, the Punjab and Haryana high court allowed the recruitment of 1,158 assistant professors and librarians in Punjab while overturning a single bench ruling which had earlier rejected this recruitment in 2022.
The process of appointment was initiated in October 2021 and the director of higher education, Punjab, issued a public notice inviting online application forms from eligible candidates for the posts of assistant professor in various subjects and librarians just ahead of the Punjab assembly elections.
Note: Its a developing story, more details awaited.
