Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 4: The Supreme Court has directed that the seniority of the Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) in Jammu and Kashmir shall be fixed on the basis of Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) held within three years from their appointment.
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Modifying the judgment of division bench of High Court of J&K to some extent and upholding the closure of ReT scheme, the apex court clarified that the Closure Order of ReT Scheme dated 16.11.2018 for cancellation and withdrawal shall not retrospectively impair the right of the candidates found placed in the select panel.
The High Court in 2023 had upheld the decision of the Government with regard to closure of the ReT Scheme with certain riders. The judgment was challenged by the various parties including the Government of J&K with private parties challenging the closure of the Scheme and the Government the two directions of the High Court.
The first direction by the High Court was that the impugned Government order will not override or effect the judgments passed or to be passed by this Court holding a candidate/candidates entitled to engagement in the selection process which was/is under challenge before the Court and the second direction was that where the select panels are approved and the aggrieved party approached the Court before it could be acted upon, shall also be not affected by the impugned Government order, in that, but for litigation in the Court, the approved panel/panels could have been acted upon and formal letters of engagement in favour of the selected candidates issued prior to the issuance of the impugned Government order.
The Supreme Court while modifying the High Court judgment to some extent directed that the candidates placed in respective select panels shall be issued engagement and appointment orders as per their position in the select panel having regard to the available vacancies. “The State shall issue the formal engagement orders to the candidates of the select panel within a period of eight weeks”, The division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar said.
The bench added that candidates appointed as per above from the select panel under the ReT Scheme are directed to acquire minimum qualification prescribed under NCTE Regulations and Notifications, including to qualify the TET, within 3 years and 3 attempts from date of their engagement/ appointment.
“In this regard, the State is directed to organize the TET annually. After successfully acquiring the minimum qualification and passing TET within prescribed time limit, the services of such appointees shall be, accordingly, regularized on completion of two years of service thereafter”, reads the judgment.
The direction with regard to TET shall be applicable to the other similarly situated candidates who have already been appointed from the select panels under the ReT Scheme after 23.08.2010. However, those appointees shall acquire prescribed qualification within three years.
“It is obligatory upon this Court to direct that once the candidates/appointees under the ReT Scheme have acquired the prescribed qualifications and qualified the TET, the seniority of all such candidates/ appointees shall be redrawn and determined by the competent authority of the State, maintaining their respective positions in the select panels uninfluenced by the date of appointment, joining or regularization. The inter se seniority shall also be determined accordingly”, reads the judgment.
The SC has made it clear that if the candidates or appointees including those already appointed and regularized who do not acquire and possess the requisite qualifications in terms of the NCTE notifications and fail to qualify the TET within the period prescribed then the State is at liberty to dispense with their services as the mandate of Article 21-A of the Constitution of India cannot be left at altar even while rendering complete justice invoking Article 142 of the Constitution of India. “It is further clarified that those candidates/appointees would not have any claim with respect to seniority or regularization as said above.
“All these directions shall apply to all the candidates who are litigating in any Court and such cases have been filed prior to the date of this judgement. It is further clarified that candidates who have not already filed cases in any Court shall neither acquire any fresh cause of action by virtue of these directions nor be entitled to seek any further directions from any Court in that regard”, the bench further added.
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