IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH

AT GWALIOR

BEFORE

HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE MILIND RAMESH PHADKE

ON THE 11^th OF JULY, 2023

WRIT PETITION No. 15877 of 2023

BETWEEN:-

RAHUL SHARMA S/O SHRI PARSHURAM SHARMA,

AGED-31 YEARS, OCCUPATION: STUDENT R/O LITTLE

FLOWER SCHOOL NEAR K S OIL MILL NAINAGARH

ROAD MORENA (MADHYA PRADESH)

.....PETITIONER

(BY SHRI RISHABH AGARWAL- ADVOCATE)

AND

1.

THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH THROUGH

PRINCIPAL SECRETARY SCHOOL EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT,

VALLABH

BHAWAN

BHOPAL

(MADHYA PRADESH)

2.

THE COMMISSIONER/ DIRECTOR LOK SHIKSHAN

SANCHANALAYA GAUTAM NAGAR, HOUSING

BOARD COLONY, BHOPAL (MADHYA PRADESH)

3.

EMPLOYEE SELECTION BOARD THROUGH ITS

SECRETARY CHAYAN BHAWAN, MAIN ROAD, NO.

1, CHINAR PARK (EAST) BHOPAL (MADHYA

PRADESH)

.....RESPONDENTS

(BY SHRI PRAVEEN NEWASKAR- DSG FOR R-3 AND SHRI SOHIT MISHRA-

GOVERNMENT ADVOCATE)

This petition coming on for hearing this day, the court passed the

following:

ORDER

The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has

been preferred being aggrieved by the action of the respondents in reducing the

1

Signed by: CHANDNI

NARWARIYA

Signing time: 14-Jul-23

6:09:25 PM

Signature Not Verified

qualifying percentage of marks for the Mains Examination of the Teacher

Eligibility

Test

to

40%

for

the

candidates

belonging

to

SC/ST/OBC/Handicapped/EWS and 50% for the rest category, whereas in the

preliminary Examination the minimum qualifying marks for the candidates

belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Handicapped/EWS category were 50% and that of

other category was 60% which amounts to changing the rules of game before it

is concluded. Further challenge has been made to the action of the Respondents

on the ground that in the eligibility test the Respondents had cancelled number

of questions, but whether proportionate marks of the questions which were

cancelled had been given to the candidates has not been disclosed nor it has

been disclosed as to how many questions were cancelled.

Brief facts of the case leading to the controversy are that respondent

No.3 had issued an advertisement for conducting Teachers Eligibility Test, 2023

for the post of Uchcha Madhyamik Shikshak. The petitioners having all the

essential qualifications to appear in the Teacher Eligibility Test, 2023, submitted

their application forms. The respondent No.3 issued the Test Admit Card and

the petitioners appeared in the said examination. As per the advertisement

(Annexure P/1), minimum qualifying marks for the candidates belonging

SC/ST/OBC/Handicapped/EWS categories were 50% and for the rest 60%

marks were required. The petitioner could not secure the minimum qualifying

marks and in the meanwhile, the Department of School Education and Tribal

Welfare Department issued an advertisement for Teachers Appointment

Examination, 2023. In the Departmental Rules appended to the advertisement in

clause 9, it was mentioned that for the candidates belonging to

SC/ST/OBC/Handicapped/EWS the minimum qualifying the marks would be

40% and for the rest it would be 50%. Aggrieved by the said reduction in the

2

Signed by: CHANDNI

NARWARIYA

Signing time: 14-Jul-23

6:09:25 PM

Signature Not Verified

qualifying marks, the present petition has been filed.

Learned counsel for the petitioner has vehemently argued that the

Teachers Eligibility Test, 2023 consists of two examinations; preliminary and

mains and for a candidate belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Handicapped/EWS the

minimum qualifying marks is 50% of marks and the same candidate in the main

examination has to secure only 40% marks which is highly discriminatory as the

rules does not prescribe any change in the qualifying marks in the preliminary

and main examination. It is further submitted that the said change in the

minimum qualifying marks during the course of the examination is per se illegal

and is against the settled principle of law that in the midst of any selection

process the criteria/rules regarding selection cannot be changed and since the

reduc