Reported by: Mrinal Banik
Agartala: The Tripura High Court has directed the state government to constitute and make functional the Technical Institutions Fee Regulatory Committee in accordance with directions issued by the Supreme Court, while declining to grant remuneration to a retired High Court judge who had sought payment for serving as its chairman.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit passed the order earlier this month while disposing of a writ appeal filed by Justice (Retired) Alok Baran Pal against a May 16, 2025, judgment of a single judge.
Justice Pal had been appointed chairman of a committee constituted by the state government on June 10, 2010, for determination of the fee structure of private technical institutions in Tripura. He contended that he was not provided staff or infrastructure and was not paid remuneration for the post.
He had sought remuneration from December 1, 2018, stating that he had held another office until then and was therefore not claiming payment for the earlier period. The government rejected his claim on May 6, 2023.
The single judge dismissed his petition, holding, among other things, that the assignment was honorary and that after Justice Jayanta Kumar Biswas gave his willingness to take over as chairman in February 2016, the appellant could not claim remuneration.
The division bench, however, said Justice Biswas’s willingness did not by itself reconstitute the committee in the absence of a government notification.
The court nevertheless declined to grant remuneration to Justice Pal, observing that there was no pleading that he had invited applications from private technical institutions or undertaken any exercise to determine their fee structure during the relevant period.
“Merely because the said committee apparently was constituted on 10.06.2010, the appellant cannot claim remuneration when he had not turned out any work,” the bench said.
The court also observed that Justice Pal should have ascertained the terms and conditions of his appointment, including remuneration, when he accepted the chairmanship.
The bench, however, expressed concern over the state’s implementation of the Supreme Court‘s directions in Islamic Academy of Education v. State of Karnataka. It said the state government had constituted the fee regulatory committee “on paper” without making it operational by providing rules relating to remuneration, staff and infrastructure.
The High Court said this had allowed private technical institutions in the state to demand and collect fees for technical courses without regulation.
It directed the state government to forthwith constitute the Technical Institutions Fee Regulatory Committee, fix the remuneration and other service conditions of its chairman and members, including leave, and provide staff and infrastructure to make the committee functional.
The court directed that the exercise be completed within one month from the date of receipt of a copy of the order by the respondents.
The writ appeal was disposed of with these directions. Pending applications, if any, were also disposed of.