Court ruled that contract employees can be terminated based on qualifications without a stigmatic implication if contract terms are followed.

JUDGMENT :

Muralee Krishna, J.

Respondents 3 and 4 in W.P.(C)No.32631 of 2022 filed this writ appeal under section 5(i) of the Kerala High Court Act , 1958, challenging the judgment dated 05.12.2022 passed by the learned Single Judge in that writ petition.

2. The 1^st respondent was selected and appointed to the post of Lecturer in Mahatma Gandhi University (the ‘M.G. University’, in short) and her appointment was approved by Ext.P1 order dated 15.04.2004. The Government, vide order dated 06.04.2017, approved the Memorandum of Association, Rules and Regulations for the establishment of the 1^st appellant Centre for Professional and Advanced Studies (‘CPAS’, in short), which is a Society registered under the Travancore and Cochin Literary Scientific and Charitable Societies Act. The M.G. University resolved to accept the order constituting the 1^st appellant Society and, in it’s syndicate meeting dated 17.07.2017, further resolved to disengage the teaching and other staff in the self-financing institutions being run by the M.G. University. Since the resolution of the syndicate was sought to be enforced by the M.G. University, writ petitions were filed before this Court. While so, the M.G. University terminated the services of the teaching staff and immediately thereafter the teaching staff were directed to submit their willingness to be engaged in the service of CPAS. Accordingly, the 1^st respondent and other teaching staff submitted their willingness, without prejudice to their right to challenge the orders before this Court.

2.1. The 1^st respondent filed W.P.(C)No.32363 of 2017 before this Court, and by the judgment dated 16.11.2018, this Court found that the 1^st respondent and other similarly situated persons have no statutory protection and their appointments were only under a contract of transfer service. Being aggrieved, the 1^st respondent filed W.A.No.188 of 2019 before this Court. A Division Bench of this Court considered that writ appeal with some other similar appeals, and by a common judgment dated 03.07.2019, allowed the writ appeals declaring that the appellants therein are permanent employees of the M.G. University, having the status of teachers of the self-financing institution, which has the status of an unaided affiliated college managed by the University. Some consequential directions were also issued in that judgment. The M.G. University, as well as CPAS, challenged the judgment of the Division Bench before the Supreme Court of India by filing Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No.6378 of 2020 and connected cases. By the order dated 11.05.2022, the Supreme Court disposed of the Special Leave Petition, affirming the judgment of the Division Bench.

2.2. The 1^st respondent further averred in the writ petition that even after the lapse of four months’ time granted by the Apex Court to comply with the directions issued by the Division Bench of this Court, neither the M.G. University nor CPAS complied those directions. By virtue of Ext.P3 proceedings dated 07.03.2022 issued by CPAS, the 1^st respondent was transferred to the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Puthuppally campus, from Cheruvandoor, wherein she was initially engaged as a Lecturer. While so, the 2^nd appellant Principal of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, issued Ext.P4 letter dated 29.08.2022 to the 1^st respondent, instructing her to enter her name in the portal as Associate Professor in Pharmacognosy, attaching therewith the e-mail communication dated 27.08.2022 issued by the CPAS. On receipt of Ext.P4, the 1^st respondent submitted Ext.P5 letter dated 30.08.2022 to CPAS informing that as per the academic records, she is specialised in pharmaceutics during her post-graduation from B