The Supreme Court has ruled that the right of employees in a welfare state should be subservient to the rights of a society, particularly in matters of education.

Courts cannot pass directions which frustrate the purpose for which a society is established, a bench of Justices P K Balasubramanyan and P P Naolekar said while upholding an appeal filed by the SCERT (State Council for Education and Research Training), against a Delhi High Court direction for enhanced pay to the employees.

The High Court had earlier on a petition from the employees directed the Delhi Government to ensure that the SCERT employees were paid salaries on par with NCERT (National Council for Education and Research Education). However, the SCERT challenged that it was not a State but an autonomous society and is dependent on grants from the Government for its salaries.