Supreme Court Stay on Contempt Proceedings Affects Teacher Promotions in Himachal Pradesh

At the same time, the Supreme Court in State of Himachal Pradesh v. Satish Kumar & Ors., on 7 October 2025, while allowing the appeal of the State Government, stayed the contempt proceedings of the High Court in Purnima v. Government. The controversy has also affected the earlier promotions. The Department had promoted 642 TGTs to the post of Spokesperson on 21 August 2025. Of these, 592 teachers were issued notices of demotion in November 2025. The salary fixation and annual increment of hundreds of teachers promoted in August are also pending. The pension fixation process of retired teachers has also been affected. The process of giving seniority to contract teachers from the date of appointment is proposed on the basis of the Taj Mohammad case judgment after the Employees Act is repealed. The seniority lists are set to be changed next month. This may further complicate the matter of promotions. Vijay Heer, State General Secretary, Advertisement Politics TGT Arts Association, said that the Association has taken up the matter of promotions with the Department and has also met Advocate General Anup Ratna demanding that the status of promotions be clarified in the academic session.