State Must Complete the Pending Primary Teacher Recruitment Within Two Months

The petitions, heard together because they raised identical issues, concerned an advertisement dated 21 October 2021 for 451 Assistant Teacher vacancies in Government Primary Schools.

The advertisement followed directions in WPPIL No. 46 of 2021, but the selection process remained incomplete.

The petitioners asserted that they held D.El.Ed qualifications and were not affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Devesh Sharma v. Union of India, which held B.Ed. holders ineligible for appointment as primary-school Assistant Teachers.

The State confirmed that the process had not been concluded but could not say whether the advertised vacancies had been included in a later advertisement.

1. Whether the selection process for the 451 Assistant Teacher vacancies advertised on 21 October 2021 could remain pending indefinitely.

2. Whether the State should be directed to complete that selection process, notwithstanding that it had been stalled following the decision in Devesh Sharma.

The Court relied on the principle that a selection process initiated pursuant to a court’s judgment cannot be kept in abeyance indefinitely.

It also considered the Supreme Court’s ruling in Devesh Sharma v. Union of India, (2023) 18 SCC 339, which held that B.Ed. degree-holders are ineligible for appointment as Assistant Teachers in Government Primary Schools.

The Court further recognised the public interest in filling existing primary-school teacher vacancies in light of the shortage of teachers.

The Court found merit in the petitioners’ contention that the 2021 selection process had remained incomplete and that the petitioners’ D.El.Ed qualifications distinguished them from the B.Ed. candidates affected by Devesh Sharma.

It considered the prolonged pendency of the process impermissible, particularly given the shortage of teachers in Government Primary Schools and the public interest in filling the vacancies.