IMPORTANT POINT
The Supreme Court ruled that B.Ed. is not a valid qualification for primary school teachers, affecting eligibility for appointments made after its decision.

JUDGMENT :

(Ritu Bahri, C.J.)

Counsel for the State has referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court dated 11th August, 2023 passed in Civil Appeal No. 5068 of 2023 titled as ‘Devesh Sharma vs. Union of India and others’ and other connected Civil Appeals, where the Supreme Court has held that for the post of Assistant Teacher, Primary Schools, the qualification of B.Ed. should not be made a ground for eligibility for appointment.

2. The above judgment has come in the year 2023 and in the present case, the advertisement for appointment to the post of Assistant Teacher, Primary Schools, in District Haridwar is of 9th July, 2006 and the respondent-writ petitioners in this case were only seeking a direction to the respondents (appellants herein) that they should be appointed as they have already undergone training after selection and this judgment was passed on 28th April, 2022.

3. The only prayer made by the respondent-writ petitioners was that after being selected and after undergoing training, they should be given appointment. The advertisement in the present case is of 9th July, 2006, hence, the aforesaid judgment of the Supreme Court, which was passed in the year 2023, cannot be made applicable to deny them the benefit of appointment. Also no challenge was made by any candidate with respect to the eligibility criteria of B.Ed. qualification.

4. The Special Appeal is, accordingly, dismissed.

5. Pending application, if any, also stands dismissed.

(Rakesh Thapliyal, J.)

1. I have gone through with the draft judgment authored by Hon’ble Chief Justice Ms. Ritu Bahri but with great regard to Her Ladyship, I am not in agreement with the judgment rendered by Her Lordship, accordingly, I am rendering the following judgment:

2. Brief facts of the case are that the writ petition was filed by the petitioners – respondents, herein, who were having B. Ed. Degree from correspondence mode and the writ petition was allowed by the learned Single Judge and the respondents State – appellants, herein, were directed to offer appointment to the petitioners on the post of Assistant Teacher in Primary School in District Haridwar within a period of three months. Being aggrieved with the judgment passed by the learned Single Judge present Special Appeal has been preferred by the State.

3. The main ground for challenging the judgment passed by the learned Single Judge is that the selection is pertaining to the post of Assistant Teacher in Primary School, for which advertisement dated 09.07.2006 was issued, however, in the year 2009, a Notification was issued on 27.08.2009 under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, by which minimum qualification for the post, in question, was changed due to which, petitioners – respondents, herein, could not be appointed. Subsequently, candidates, who were having B.Ed. Degree, were considered for taking admission in Special BTC Training course making them to be eligible for appointment against the post of Assistant Teacher, Primary Schools.

4. By virtue of Notification issued under Section 23 (1) of the Right to Education Act, 2009 by which the minimum qualification was laid down and in furtherance of the same, Government by Notification dated 28.08.2012 promulgated the Uttarakhand State Elementary Education (Teachers) Service Rules, 2012 and Rule 9(A) of the aforesaid Rules, prescribes the minimum qualification for the post of Assistant Teacher, which is being extracted hereinbelow:

“i. Graduation Degree, from any University of India, established by law.

ii. Two years diploma in Elementary Education (D.El. Ed.) from the District Institute for Education and Training (DIET) (earlier known as BTC).

iii. TET (Teachers Eligibility Test)”

5. Mr. C.S. Rawat, learned Chief Standing Counsel for the State has placed reliance on the judgment rendered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Devesh Sharma Vs. Union of India and others 2023 SCCOnline SC 985 decided on 11.08.2023 wherein it has been hel