In a sharp rebuke, the judiciary has imposed a ₹5 lakh penalty on the Tamil Nadu government for what it deemed frivolous appeals aimed at avoiding the payment of salary arrears to assistant professors appointed in 2009.
A judicial bench criticized the State’s “atrocious game” against its citizens and expressed hope that the hefty costs would discourage future attempts to evade responsibility through unnecessary legal challenges.
The case revolved around the government’s decision to challenge a single-judge order that mandated the payment of pending salaries to assistant professors. These professors, appointed in 2009, had their positions approved only in 2020. Shockingly, the very next day, the government issued a notification canceling these appointments without providing any justification.
Ten of the affected professors contested this cancellation. While their case was still pending, the government reversed its cancellation, reaffirming their appointments, which led to the judge ordering the payment of their dues.
In response to the government’s claim of insufficient funds to pay the arrears, the court expressed surprise and dismissed the argument outright, imposing a ₹50,000 cost on the State for each of the 10 appeals. Half of this amount was directed to be paid to the professors, with the remainder going to a local cancer care foundation.
The court underscored that this penalty should serve as a deterrent against future frivolous litigation, even suggesting that the government consider recovering these costs from the officials responsible for filing the appeals.
