Shillong: The High Court of Meghalaya has disposed of a lengthy legal battle involving the Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association and Prashanta Sarkhel. This case started in 2017 regarding the Meghalaya Non-Government School and College Employees’ Centralised Provident Fund Act, 1969. The state challenged an earlier judgment, leading the Supreme Court to remand the case in 2022. Judges reviewed whether the state correctly followed the 1969 Act for deficit grant-in-aid colleges.
The state government eventually created a trust and issued a notification on March 18, 2026, establishing the new scheme. Teachers fought this move. They claimed the 2026 rules ignored the original 1969 statutory framework and the 2023 draft. They specifically attacked the inclusion of an NPS-based contribution structure and the merging of employee categories based on their April 1, 2010, hire date. They wanted the court to intervene in the scheme's design.
The state argued it checked every box. It formed a Board of Trustees, approved bye-laws, and hired a portfolio manager. Justice H.S. Thangkhiew and Justice B. Bhattacharjee agreed the state met the Supreme Court’s requirements. The court noted Section 4 of the 1969 Act gives the government broad power to frame schemes. The judges ruled the teachers' complaints went beyond the scope of the Supreme Court remand.
The bench chose not to rule on the specific investment or operational details of the current plan. The court stated, "The Division Bench comprising Justice H.S. Thangkhiew and Justice B. Bhattacharjee declined to entertain the objection, observing that the March 18 notification of the 2026 scheme under the 1969 Act showed substantial compliance with the terms of the Supreme Court’s remand." The petition is now dead. Teachers remain free to start fresh legal challenges against the scheme's specifics if they choose.
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