Recruitments To Posts Of Over 2300 Elementary Trained Teachers In Punjab Set Aside By Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court last week set aside the entire selection process for recruitment to the posts of 2,364 Elementary Trained Teachers 18 months after The Punjab and Haryana High Court last week set aside the entire selection process for recruitment to the posts of 2,364 Elementary Trained Teachers 18 months after The Bench of Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu was hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the selection criteria along with the ongoing process for the appointment of 2,364 ETT meant for the border area. The Court noted that the impugned selection criteria specified in the Further, stressing that the Court was very well conscious that quashing of the Background of the Case Initially, the Director of Recruitment issued the Subsequently, vide corrigendum dated June 23, 2020, the number of posts were increased to 2364 and the last date for submission of applications was also extended to July 9, 2020; however, other terms & conditions of the It was argued on behalf of the petitioners that the final selection of the candidate could be on the basis of their merit list in the written examination and provisions of Rule 6 are mandatory in nature. Therefore, it was contended that the selection criteria mentioned in the In response to this, the Counsel for the State argued that there had been past practice for grant of weightage on account of higher educational qualifications and as such, a specific clause to that effect was incorporated in the It was also contended that all the petitioners duly participated in the selection process but remained unsuccessful and therefore, now they cannot be permitted to challenge the criteria or selection process for recruitment of the posts in question while alleging the violation of service rules. The Court also noted that in view of the dicta under rule 4, appointments to the posts in question have to be made on the basis of recommendations by the "Board", however, the Board had not been constituted in terms of rule 2 and rather the Director Recruitment has been made the final authority for making recommendations without there being any competency to that effect under service rules; Consequently, the writ petitions were allowed and the Read Order/Judgment