High Court Orders Government to Revise Recruitment Rules for Shastri Teachers

Shimla, December 31: In a significant judgment, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has provided a major relief to Shastri degree holders by declaring the mandatory B.Ed requirement for Shastri teachers illegal. Justice Ajay Mohan Goyal, while disposing of petitions challenging the government’s decision, emphasized that the imposition of such a condition was arbitrary and could not stand without proper amendments to the recruitment and promotion rules.

The court clarified that for the government to make the B.Ed degree a mandatory requirement for Shastri teacher positions, an amendment to the existing recruitment rules was necessary. The petitioners had contested the 2023 notification from the Education Department, which mandated the B.Ed degree for Shastri posts, arguing that such a condition had been introduced without revising the recruitment rules. This, they argued, created inequality in the recruitment process.

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The applicants also raised concerns that by imposing the B.Ed requirement, junior candidates who held both a Shastri and B.Ed qualification could be appointed before more senior candidates, thereby violating the principles of batch-wise recruitment.

While a previous division bench of the High Court had dismissed petitions challenging the notification issued in February 2020, this time, a single bench ruled in favor of the petitioners. The judgment now compels the government to ensure transparency in its recruitment process and to amend the rules accordingly for Shastri teacher appointments.

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