HIGH COURT OF TRIPURA AGARTALA WP(C) No.588 of 2023 Smt. Surpriya Chakraborty, D/o Late Sisir Ranjan Chakraborty, resident of Jogendranangar, P.O. – Agartala College, P.S. – East Agartala, District – West Tripura.

......... Petitioner (s);

Versus

1. Tripura University, A Central University, represented by the Registrar, Tripura University, having its office at Suryamaninagar, P.O. Suryamaninagar, Agartala, West Tripura - 799022.

2. The Registrar, Tripura University, having its office at Suryamaninagar, P.O. Suryamaninagar, Agartala, West Tripura -

799022.

3. Dr. K B Jamatia, Joint Registrar, Tripura University, (Chairman)

Committee, Suryamaninagar, P.O- Suryamaninagar, Agartala, West Tripura-799022.

4. Dr. B M Pandey, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Member, Committee, Suryamaninagar, P.O-Suryamaninagar, Agartala, West Tripura-799022.

5. Dr. Muneendra Mishra, Assistant Registrar (I/C), Tripura University, Convenor, Committee, Suryamaninagar, P.O-

Suryamaninagar, Agartala, West Tripura-799022.

.........Respondent (s);

For Petitioner (s) : Mr. Sankar Lodh, Advocate.

For Respondent(s) : Ms. Uttara Singha, Advocate.

Date of hearing : 15.09.2025 Date of Judgment & Order : 09.12.2025 Whether Fit for Reporting : NO HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE S. DATTA PURKAYASTHA JUDGMENT & ORDER Heard Mr. Sankar Lodh, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Ms. Uttara Singha, learned counsel appearing for the respondents-University.

[2] The father of the petitioner, an employee of Tripura University, died in harness on 26.11.2005. The petitioner, being at that time Madhyamik qualified, applied for a job under the Die-in-Harness Scheme on 19.12.2005 and thereafter, the petitioner was engaged as a Daily Rated Worker (‘DRW’, for short) (Group-C) on a temporary basis vide office memorandum dated 27.12.2005 issued by the University Authority. She, accordingly, joined on the following date and since then she has been serving there. Later on, her designation has been changed to Monthly Rated Worker (‘MRW’, for short) (Group-C).

[3] While serving in the University, with the permission of the authority, she prosecuted her further studies and passed Higher Secondary Examination. She also obtained graduation from Tripura University itself under the Distance Education Scheme and then Diploma in Computer Application before 31.03.2010.

[4] It is asserted by her that she has been serving in different wings of the University without any blemish and for some time she was placed in the Vice Chancellor‟s Secretariat and then in Receipt & Dispatch Section of the Registrar Branch and also in the Directorate of Distance Education, which are all of a perennial nature of works related to the day-to-day functioning of the University.

[5] On 07.05.2007, the University issued a memorandum (Annexure-11) for scrutinizing and examining the feasibility for regularization of the services of DRW/Casual Workers and asked for submission of different documents of the concerned employees, but it is not clear as to what happened thereafter.

[6] The petitioner had been getting fixed wages since her joining the service, which were enhanced from time to time and the University Authority thereafter decided to extend the benefit of „equal pay for equal work‟ to 87 Casual/DR Workers vide an office order dated 22.09.2020 (Annexure-17), and the petitioner also got benefit of the same. The financial benefit as provided under the said decision was fixed pay of Rs.19,900/- plus admissible DA to all the employees.

[7] The petitioner submitted one representation on 09.08.2019 (Annexure-14) to the Vice Chancellor of the University for absorbing her into a regular post, as she had already completed more than 13 years of service as an MRW, but till date she has not been so absorbed. She raised one plea in her representation that one Smt. Basanti Debbarma (not a party to the instant writ petition) who was initially employed as a DRW (Group-C) on a temporary basis like the petitioner, after six months of her service