Telangana high court rejects plea to raise retirement age for faculty

HYDERABAD: Telangana high court has dismissed writ petitions filed by teaching staff of Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University and PV Narsimha Rao Telangana Veterinary University, who sought to extend their retirement age from 60 to 65 years.The high court held that superannuation is a matter of state policy and lies strictly within the domain of the government and executive. Justice K Sarath, while pronouncing the judgment, stated that courts cannot frame policy or alter service conditions merely because roles or pay scales appear similar across institutions.Referring to settled Supreme Court rulings, the bench observed: “The age of retirement is governed by specific statutory rules tied to a post, rather than generalised comparisons of duties or pay structures.”The court further added: “The govt is legally entitled to extend retirement for one category of employees while refusing it to others due to administrative needs or financial considerations.”

UGC pay scales

The dispute stemmed from a Jan 2025 GO that raised the retirement age to 65 for regular teachers drawing University Grants Commission (UGC) pay scales but limited the benefit to state universities under the higher education department.

Professors and associate professors from agricultural and veterinary universities challenged their exclusion.Petitioners argued that since they draw UGC pay scales and function at the same level as faculty in regular state universities, denying them the extension was arbitrary and violated Article 14 of the Constitution.“Since the state adopted the composite UGC regulations, the retirement age of 65 should automatically encompass their services,” they contended, also citing interim orders of Andhra Pradesh high court that allowed agricultural university faculty to continue till 65.Countering this, state counsels stressed that these universities are specialised entities governed by separate statutes and controlled by the agriculture and cooperation department and the animal husbandry, dairy development, and fisheries department.“These universities do not fall under the purview of the higher education department,” they submitted, adding that official clarifications had excluded them from the 2025 order.

‘Not binding on Telangana’

The state maintained that adopting UGC pay scales does not determine retirement rules, which remain a sovereign decision, and that AP’s interim directions are not binding on Telangana. After hearing submissions, the high court upheld the state’s position, noting that the petitioners fall under different administrative departments.