The Calcutta High Court has once again settled a long-running dispute over the service status of hostel and mess workers in government and sponsored polytechnic institutions. On Monday, a Division Bench dismissed multiple appeals filed by the State of West Bengal and the Director of Technical Education and Training, refusing to interfere with earlier orders that granted permanent Group-D status to such employees.
The courtroom atmosphere was calm but firm as the Bench made it clear that the issue had already been settled by binding precedent.
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Background of the Case
The batch of appeals arose from four writ petitions filed by hostel and mess employees working in various government and sponsored polytechnics across West Bengal. Earlier, a single judge of the High Court had directed the authorities to treat these workers as permanent government employees and extend to them all service benefits available to Group-D staff, including pay scale, allowances, and retirement benefits.
Challenging those directions, the State and the Director of Technical Education and Training argued that the workers were not government employees at all. According to the appellants, the hostel and mess facilities were run by Hostel Committees, not by the institutes directly, and therefore no employer-employee relationship with the government existed.
Arguments Before the Court
Appearing for the State, the Additional Advocate General submitted that the writ petitioners were engaged and controlled by Hostel Committees. He argued that such committees decided their work, discipline, and terms of engagement. As a result, the State said, these workers could not claim parity with Group-D employees.
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The State also relied on an earlier judgment which had denied similar benefits to hostel workers and argued that a departmental note issued in 2014 suggesting Group-D status had no statutory force. It was described as only a provisional opinion, not a government decision.
Another key argument was that there were allegedly conflicting views from different Division Benches on similar issues. The State urged the court to refer the matter to a larger Bench for fresh consideration.
Response from the Employees
Counsel for the employees countered these submissions strongly. He pointed out that the very same issue had already been decided in favour of hostel and mess staff in earlier cases involving the Technical Education Department.
Those decisions, he argued, had been affirmed by the Supreme Court after dismissal of special leave petitions. The workers, he said, were performing continuous and permanent duties, no different from hostel employees in universities and government-aided colleges who were already enjoying Group-D benefits.
“The question is no longer open for debate,” counsel submitted, adding that the State had already implemented similar orders in earlier cases.
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Court’s Observations
After hearing both sides, the Division Bench took a clear view. The judges noted that the argument about conflicting judgments had already been examined in the past and referred to a Special Bench as far back as 2007.
That reference was eventually disposed of in 2014 after the Higher Education Department issued a memo extending service benefits to hostel and mess employees in state-aided institutions. Subsequent Division Benches had relied on that development to grant Group-D status to similarly placed employees.
The Bench observed that these earlier judgments had been upheld by the Supreme Court, giving them binding value. “Doctrine of precedents and stare decisis are the core values of the legal system,” the court remarked, cautioning that references to larger Benches should not be made casually.
The judges further noted that an appellate court does not interfere merely because another view is possible. It steps in only when the order under challenge is clearly wrong.
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Decision of the Court
Finding no infirmity in the reasoning of the single judge, the Division Bench dismissed all the appeals and connected applications. The court held that the writ petitioners stood on the same footing as earlier beneficiaries and were rightly granted Group-D status along with consequential service benefits.
There was no order as to costs.
With that, the long-standing dispute came to an end, reaffirming the rights of hostel and mess workers in polytechnic institutions to be treated as permanent government employees.
Case Title: Director of Technical Education and Training vs Lila Lohar & Ors. (with connected matters)
Case No.: MAT 572 of 2025 and connected appeals
Decision Date: 9 February 2026
