Chhattisgarh High Court rules long-serving Panchayat teachers cannot be denied service benefits for technical appointment reasons

News Citation : 2026 LN (HC) 69

Bilaspur, January 23, 2026 : The Chhattisgarh High Court has delivered a significant ruling affecting hundreds of teachers appointed under the Panchayat and School Education set-up across the state, holding that long-serving teachers cannot be denied service benefits merely because their appointments were made through local bodies rather than the state education cadre.

In a common order pronounced on January 23, 2026, the court disposed of a large batch of writ petitions filed by lecturers and teachers working in government middle schools, high schools, and higher secondary schools in different districts of Chhattisgarh. The petitioners had challenged the state government’s refusal to extend them pay fixation, seniority, and other consequential service benefits on the ground that they were appointed under the Panchayat Department instead of the School Education Department.

The court noted that most of the petitioners had been working continuously for many years and were discharging the same duties as their counterparts in the regular education cadre. It observed that once the state itself had deployed these teachers in government schools and continued to take work from them on sanctioned teaching posts, it could not adopt a discriminatory approach while granting financial and service-related benefits.

Rejecting the state’s stand, the High Court held that the nature of work, length of service, and continuity of appointment are crucial factors in determining entitlement to service benefits. Merely labeling teachers as Panchayat employees, despite their long service in government schools, was found to be arbitrary and unsustainable in law.

The court directed the concerned departments to reconsider the cases of the petitioners and extend admissible benefits, including proper pay fixation and consequential advantages, in accordance with applicable rules and earlier judicial precedents. It clarified that such consideration must be completed within a reasonable timeframe and without forcing the teachers to engage in further litigation.

The ruling is expected to have a broad impact, as similar disputes involving Panchayat-appointed teachers have been pending across Chhattisgarh for years. Teacher associations have welcomed the judgment, calling it a step toward ending long-standing disparities in the state’s education system.

Case Reference : WPS No. 647 of 2021, Parmeshwar Prasad Jaiswal vs State of Chhattisgarh and Others: Counsel for the petitioners were Mr. Anup Majumdar, Mr. Mateen Siddiqui, Mr. C. Jayant K. Rao, and Mr. Ishan Verma; counsel for the State were Mr. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Mr. Vijay Shankar Mishra, Mr. Pankaj Kamlesh (on behalf of Mr. Akath Kumar Yadav), Mr. Ravish Verma, and Ms. Monika Thakur; and counsel for the other respondents were Mr. Anand Dadariya, Deputy Advocate General, and Mr. Raj Kumar Gupta along with Ms. Mamta Gendle on behalf of Mr. H.S. Ahluwalia.