Shimla: For batch-wise recruitment of language teachers in the Education Department, the rule of calculating the batch from the date of B.Ed degree has been upheld. The state government had issued a notification for batch wise recruitment to be held from March 31, 2014 onwards, the batch will be considered from the date of issue of the original certificate of B.Ed. This notification was issued on 16 November 2013. The applicants had challenged this notification in the High Court, calling it an arbitrary decision of the government.
High Court judge Justice Ajay Mohan Goyal, while rejecting the petition of the applicants, said that as per the rules, B.Ed degree is an important qualification for appointing a candidate to the post of language teacher. In such a situation, counting it for the batch from the date of receipt does not appear to be arbitrary. The court said that only after obtaining the complete qualification, the candidate can be considered eligible for the calculation of the concerned batch.
The court said that mere BA or PG degree without Diploma in Elementary Education or B.Ed degree does not make an aspiring candidate eligible for a language teacher. The court also said that incidentally, BA or graduate degree alone makes a candidate eligible for many posts ranging from clerk to IAS, but BA degree alone does not make the candidate eligible to apply for the post of language teacher. For this, it is also necessary for the candidate to have a B.Ed degree.
The High Court said that according to the amendment according to which the batch for batchwise recruitment after March 31, 2014 will be counted from the date of issue of the original certificate of B.Ed, there is no mistake in it. The applicants who filed the petition said that they are unemployed and are fully eligible to be appointed as language teachers. He said that he fulfills the requisite criteria for appointment to the concerned post as per R&P (Recruitment and Promotion) rules. The petitioners have done BA with more than fifty percent marks with Hindi as an optional subject. Apart from acquiring the mandatory qualification of B.Ed, he has also passed the Compulsory Teacher Eligibility (TET) test.
Petitioners’ arguments
According to the petitioners in the case, earlier the eligibility for batchwise recruitment was determined from the date when the candidates had acquired the qualification of BA. It was argued in the petition that after the implementation of the amendment in the year 2013, all batch-wise recruitments after March 31, 2014 were considered from the date of issue of the original certificate of B.Ed.
The applicants alleged that this cut-off date is arbitrary. Also, the classification done to calculate the qualification after March 31, 2014 on the basis of the date of issue of the original certificate of B.Ed degree is a violation of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. This classification is neither based on any logical difference nor has any connection with its purpose i.e. appointment of teachers against the post of language teacher.
The government, while defending its order, had said that as per the amendment incorporated in the year 2013, now the posts are filled by counting the batch from the date of passing B.Ed instead of graduation. These rules are in vogue since the year 2013 and after that batch wise recruitment is being done as per these rules only. The government’s argument was that the selection criteria were legally fair. Because along with BA, only B.Ed degree makes the candidate eligible for appointment as a language teacher. Therefore there is no dearth in the notification and order.
Earlier the qualification was assessed from the date of passing BA, but it was realized that since B.Ed degree along with BA only makes the candidate eligible for appointment as a language teacher, necessary amendments have been made in the rules. . The government said that the employer has the prerogative to make necessary amendments in the R&P rules. The High Court has also upheld this rule after hearing
