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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI

W.P.(S) No. 471 of 2026

Powel Kumar & Ors. ... ... Petitioners

Versus

The State of Jharkhand & Ors. ... … Respondents

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CORAM: HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR

For the Petitioners : Mr. Ajit Kumar, Sr. Advocate

Mr. Akash Ajit Kumar, Advocate

For the State : Mr. Piyush Chitresh, AC to AG

For the JSSC : Mr. Sanjoy Piprawall, Advocate

Mr. Prince Kumar, Advocate

Mr. Rakesh Ranjan, Advocate

For the NCTE : Mr. Ravi Kumar, Advocate

Mr. Anshuman Mishra, Advocate

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Order No. 02 Dated: 28.01.2026

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The learned counsel for the respondents seek some time to file a

response. They also point that the appointments which are the

subject-matter of this petition are being monitored by the Hon’ble

Supreme Court and therefore, this Court, should not even entertain

this petition.

3. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners submits that in terms of

the impugned Rules and Advertisement, passing of Jharkhand

Teachers Eligibility Test (JTET) Examination is prescribed as an

essential qualification. However, since 2016, the State of Jharkhand

has not conducted this examination. Accordingly, the learned Senior

Counsel for the petitioners submits that the insistence of such a

requirement amounts to manifest arbitrariness and such a condition

must be struck down. In any event, he submits that the candidates,

who have cleared the corresponding examination conducted by the

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Central Government, should be held eligible.

4. The learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners pointed out that the

learned Single Judge of this Court, in W.P.(S) No. 5355 of 2025,

after taking cognizance of the fact that the State of Jharkhand has

not conducted the JTET Examination since 2016, directed the State

of Jharkhand not to fill-up the posts of ‘Assistant Teachers’ until the

JTET Examination is held and the results are declared. He submitted

that this direction was ultimately modified, but such modification

was based upon a misconstruction of the orders of the Hon’ble

Supreme Court.

5. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners therefore submitted that

by way of interim relief, we should stay the selection process or in

the alternate, direct the consideration of the candidatures of the

petitioners by granting suitable relaxation particularly since the

petitioners fulfill all qualifications prescribed by RCI, which is a

Central Body and the qualifications prescribed by RCI override the

qualifications prescribed by the State Government.

6. We have considered the contentions based upon which interim relief

is being pressed in this petition. However, we are satisfied that no

case is made out for the grant of interim relief in the terms applied

for.

7. Though it is true that since 2016, no JTET Examination has been

conducted by the State of Jharkhand, still, we cannot ignore the

fact that the Hon’ble Supreme Court is monitoring the recruitment

of ‘Assistant Teachers’. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has already

been apprised of this circumstance about the State of Jharkhand

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not conducting the JTET Examination since 2016. Therefore, at this

stage, to interrupt the selection process and thereby derail the

timelines set out by the Hon’ble Supreme Court will not be

appropriate, and at least we will be loath to make any such order in

this petition.

8. That apart, the learned Single Judge, by order dated 17.11.2025,

modified the earlier order dated 25.09.2025 under which a restraint

was imposed upon the State to proceed with the recruitment

process until the JTET Examination was conducted and the results

declared. The modification was to apply to 3451 posts of

Intermediate and Graduate Trained Special Education Assistant

Teachers, which are the subject matter of the present

advertisement and consequently the present petition.

9. The above order has not been challenged. By challenging the Rules

or by raising other arguments, the effect of the orders made by the

learned Single Judge cannot be prima facie diluted or use