Lucknow, Oct 29 Teachers working in sports colleges run by the Uttar Pradesh Sports Colleges Society are not government employees and cannot approach the state public services tribunal to challenge service-related matters, including salary fixation and pension, the Allahabad High Court has ruled.
A division bench of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai passed the order on Wednesday while allowing a petition filed by the principal of Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow.
The court quashed the tribunal’s September 4, 2025, order and set aside proceedings on a claim petition filed by teacher Harveer Singh.
Teachers of the sports colleges in the state are not selected like the regular teachers in schools and colleges.
Singh was appointed as an assistant teacher (football) in 1994. After the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, he opted to remain in Uttar Pradesh and joined the Lucknow sports college in August 2001. He retired on April 30, 2023.
Discrepancies were later detected in his salary fixation. His pay was revised, and orders were issued to recover excess payments. Aggrieved by the decision, Singh approached the state public services tribunal, whose proceedings were subsequently challenged by the college principal before the high court.
The bench observed that the Uttar Pradesh Sports Colleges Society is an independent and autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Its governing body manages the colleges and appoints teachers through the prescribed procedure.
The court held that government financial assistance for salaries and other expenses does not automatically confer government employee status on teachers working in these institutions.
It further observed that the society is neither a local authority nor a corporation owned or controlled by the state government under the relevant statutory provisions. Therefore, its teachers cannot invoke the jurisdiction of the state public services tribunal.
However, the bench clarified that salary fixation and pension disputes are service-related matters whose consequences may continue to affect an employee over time.
While setting aside the tribunal proceedings, the court preserved Singh’s liberty to challenge the revised salary fixation and recovery orders before an appropriate legal forum.
(PTI News)
