A division bench of the Madras High Court, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu ruled that a government school teacher is only eligible for two incentives during their service period and is not eligible for additional incentives based on higher educational qualifications.

Recently, the division bench comprising Justice R Subramanian and Justice Sathi Kumar Sukumara Kurup ruled that they cannot take a different position in view of the full bench's categorical pronouncement on the issue. "Hence, the writ appeal will stand allowed, setting aside the order of the writ court (single judge)," said the division bench, stated a report by The New Indian Express.

The writ appeal was filed against the single judge's order dated August 21, 2015, by the Assistant Elementary Educational Officer of Dharmapuri, which ordered payment of the third incentive to the panchayat union middle school teacher, C Nirmala, who claimed it on acquiring higher educational qualification. Based on the previous writ appeal, the judges noted, "Therefore, there cannot be any dispute regarding the fact that a second-grade teacher or BT assistant or post-graduate teacher, during the entire period of service as a teacher, is entitled to get only two incentive increments," as reported by The New Indian Express.