The court affirmed the need for the State to comply with previous directives regarding the inclusion of CTET qualified candidates in teacher recruitment, emphasizing adherence to equity and judicial mandates.

JUDGMENT :

ROBIN PHUKAN, J.

Heard Mr. K.K. Mahanta, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Mr. K.M. Mahanta, learned counsel for the petitioners and opposite party No. 1 – 87 in the connected interlocutory application. Also heard Mr. P. Nayak, learned standing counsel for the respondents/applicants in the Sarba Siksha Abhiyan Mission Assam (SSA) and Mr. B. Kaushik, learned standing counsel for the respondents/opposite party in the Elementary Education Department.

2. In this petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 87 numbers of petitioners have prayed for setting aside and quashing the notice dated 19.07.2022, and also for issuing direction to the respondent authorities to publish a fresh notification taking into account the vacancies reserved by this Court, vide judgment and order dated 19.07.2021, passed in writ appeal, being WA No. 69/2021, and to allow the petitioners to participate in the recruitment process.

3. It is also to be noted here that the respondent No.4 has also filed one interlocutory application, being I.A. (Civil) No. 1127/2025, for granting permission to declare the result, and therefore, Mr. Nayak, learned standing counsel for the SSA has contended to allow the respondent No. 4 to declare the result.

4. And as agreed upon and as the writ petition as well the interlocutory application relates to the same subject matter, this Court is inclined to dispose of both the petitions by this common judgment and order.

5. The background facts, leading to filing of the present petition, are briefly stated as under:

“The petitioners belong to different villages in the districts of Kamrup(M), Darrang, Barpeta, Goalpara, Dhubri, Nagaon, Jorhat, Cachar, Hailakandi, Udalguri, Barpeta, Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Hojai, Morigaon, Karbi Anglong etc. of Assam and they belong to various categories like General, Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Caste, Economically Weaker Section of the society. They have qualified Central Teachers’ Eligibility Test (‘CTET’, for short) and possess all other requisite qualifications for being appointed as Assistant Teachers (Contractual) in the Lower Primary and Upper Primary Schools of Assam. The Mission Director, Axom Sarba Siksha Abhiyan Mission/respondent No. 4 published an advertisement dated 24.09.2020 (Annexure-1) in the newspapers inviting online applications from intending eligible candidates for filling up of 2966 posts of Assistant Teachers in Lower Primary Schools and 548 posts of Assistant Teachers (Social Science) in Upper Primary Schools and 239 posts of Assistant Teachers (Maths and Science) in Upper Primary Schools on contractual basis in the State of Assam, and the date for submission of online application was from 10:00 a.m. of 27.09.2020 to midnight of 11.10.2020. In the said advertisement dated 24.09.2020, one of the eligibility criteria laid down for the posts of Assistant Teachers (Contractual) LP/UP schools of Assam was that all the candidates shall possess the Assam Teachers’ Eligibility Test (‘Assam-TET’, for short) Certificate, meaning thereby all candidates applying for the abovementioned advertisement must be Assam-TET qualified and thereby, denied all the CTET qualified candidates from participating in the aforementioned selection process.

Because of the aforesaid stipulation in the advertisement dated 24.09.2020, the petitioners had preferred a batch of writ petitions before this Court asking for a direction to allow them to participate in the recruitment pr