17 April 2025 Employee Related >> Corporate Law   |   Education >> Miscellaneous  

In Shivkumar & Another v/s The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Mumbai & Others., the court order addresses a petition challenging the Nanded Zilla Parishad Education Officer's refusal to approve the appointments of two teachers. The petitioners, appointed as 'Shikshan Sevaks' and later as 'Assistant Teachers' in reserved categories, had their approvals denied due to alleged deficiencies like lack of advertisement permission, availability of surplus teachers, delayed proposal submission, and non-compliance with the 'Pavitra Portal' recruitment rule and TET/CTET qualification at the time of initial appointment.

The court found most of the Education Officer's reasons unsustainable. It noted that the petitioners had sought advertisement permission which was ignored, the reserved category posts were indeed vacant, and the 'Pavitra Portal' rule was issued after their appointments. While acknowledging the delayed proposal submission (the management's responsibility) and the TET/CTET qualification issue, the court highlighted that one petitioner obtained the TET certification before the stipulated deadline. For the other petitioner who qualified later, the approval was granted but made contingent on the Supreme Court's final decision on the TET/CTET requirement.

Ultimately, the court allowed the petition, quashing the Education Officer's order and directing the approval of both teachers' appointments and the release of their salaries within three months.