Petitioner allowed to participate in recruitment process to fulfill mandate of free basic education

Allahabad High Court: The Single Judge Bench of Ashwani Kumar Mishra, J. allowed a writ appeal and directed the respondents to allow the petitioner to participate in the recruitment process for Assistant Teachers.
The petitioner had applied for the post of Assistant Teacher in response to the advertisement issued by the respondents. However, he did not possess the No Objection Certificate as required, and thus his candidature was rejected. Counsel for the petitioner stated that now the petitioner holds all the requisite documents and the posts for Assistant Teachers are still lying vacant. Therefore, he prayed that the respondents be directed to appoint the petitioner on the said post.
The High Court held that, the petitioner did not commit a violation of any strict Rule. At the appropriate time, he did not possess the Certificate required, which he now does. Posts were lying vacant for Assistant Teachers in basic education. There was a dearth of teachers in basic education. And as such, the Court directed the respondents to consider the candidature of the petitioner as against the posts lying vacant for Assistant Teachers. That would help in fulfilling the constitutional mandate of providing free basic education to the children aged between 8 to 14 years. [Arvind Kumar Singh v. State of U.P., 2018 SCC OnLine All 494, dated 30-04-2018]