In Brief
Teachers appointed through regular selection procedures under the Uttar Pradesh State Universities Act, 1973, to a state university's Pharmaceutical Sciences department claimed substantive appointment status. Although appointed through statutory selection committees and executive council approval, their appointment letters bore arbitrary contractual terms limiting tenure to three years. When the university converted to a central university in 2009, the respondents initiated fresh recruitment. The Supreme Court held that statutory selection process constitutes substantive appointment regardless of contractual framing. Employees in unequal bargaining positions cannot freely consent to arbitrary conditions. Section 4(d) of the Central Universities Act protects pre-conversion employment rights. Once posts are sanctioned and approved by competent authority, employees working against them are substantively appointed. The Court quashed the High Court judgment and declared the appellants entitled to substantive appointment status.
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