KOUSIK DAS & ORS. versus STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS.

Summary

The Supreme Court held that the Calcutta High Court misread Jaiveer Singh v. State of Uttarakhand by imposing a blanket ban on recruiting teachers holding the 18-month D.El.Ed. (ODL) from NIOS: teachers who were in service on 10 August 2017 and completed that programme before 1 April 2019 under the NCTE's one-time recognition order are valid diploma holders, at par with holders of the two-year D.El.Ed., for applying to other institutions and for promotion.

Issues

1. Whether, in light of Jaiveer Singh v. State of Uttarakhand and the clarificatory order in Viswanath v. State of Uttarakhand, the High Court was right to direct the West Bengal Board of Primary Education not to recruit any teacher holding the 18-month D.El.Ed. issued by NIOS through ODL mode from the 2022 recruitment onwards.
2. Whether in-service untrained teachers who were employed on 10 August 2017 and completed the 18-month NIOS D.El.Ed. before 1 April 2019 are to be treated as valid diploma holders at par with the two-year D.El.Ed. for the purposes of fresh recruitment and promotion.

Provisions considered

• Section 23(1) and second proviso to Section 23(2) (inserted by Act 24 of 2017), Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009Under Section 23(1) the Central Government authorised the NCTE as the academic authority to lay down minimum teacher qualifications. The second proviso to Section 23(2), added by the 2017 Amendment Act notified on 10 August 2017, required every teacher in position on 31 March 2015 without the minimum qualifications to acquire them within four years, i.e. by 31 March 2019; this left only about 18-19 months and led the NCTE to relax the course duration for in-service teachers. (¶¶ 4.1, 4.3, 12, 13, 14)
• Clause 9 with Appendix 2 and Appendix 9; Recognition Order dated 22 September 2017, NCTE (Recognition, Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2014Appendix 2 (regular) and Appendix 9 (ODL) both envisage the D.El.Ed. as a two-year programme. By the Recognition Order of 22 September 2017, on an Expert Committee's recommendation, the NCTE relaxed the regulations to reduce the ODL D.El.Ed. to 18 months (subsuming the six-month internship) and recognised NIOS to run it through the SWAYAM portal for in-service untrained teachers to qualify by 31 March 2019. The Court treated this as a one-time window for teachers in service on 10 August 2017, not a qualification open to others. (¶¶ 4.2, 4.4, 12, 15, 26, 27, 28)

Held

• Jaiveer Singh held that the 18-month NIOS D.El.Ed. (ODL) is not equivalent in general to the two-year D.El.Ed., because the NCTE Recognition Order of 22 September 2017 provided only a one-time window for untrained in-service teachers appointed on or before 10 August 2017 to acquire the minimum qualifications before 1 April 2019, failing which they would have faced dismissal. It did not hold that such in-service teachers who completed the programme are disqualified. (¶¶ 25, 26, 27, 29)
• Only teachers in service on 10 August 2017 who had not then acquired the minimum qualifications could avail of the one-time scheme; having done so and completed the 18-month NIOS programme before 1 April 2019, they are to be treated at par with holders of the two-year D.El.Ed. Any other candidate who was not in service on 10 August 2017 cannot be considered at par with the two-year D.El.Ed. (¶¶ 28, 33)
• Although the Single Judge relied on paragraph 56 of Jaiveer Singh, he reached the wrong conclusion by imposing a blanket ban on recruiting all holders of the 18-month NIOS D.El.Ed.; the Division Bench erred in not interfering with that order. (¶¶ 30, 32, 34)
• The order of 10 December 2024 disposing of the review petitions in Jaiveer Singh (Viswanath), and the judgment of 5 March 2025 in Viswanath, clarified that persons in employment on 10 August 2017 who completed the 18-month diploma are valid diploma holders for applying to other institutions or for promotional avenues, with effect from the date of the Jaiveer Singh judgment (28 November 2023). In light of these, the impugned High Court judgment was unsustainable. (¶¶ 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
• Holding a valid diploma is not alone sufficient for appointment; the other requirements of the recruitment notification, such as clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test, must also be met. The authorities were directed to consider the candidature of those appellants who were in service on 10 August 2017 and, on verification of eligibility, to appoint them within three months. (¶¶ 10, 40)

Result

Appeal allowed; orders of the Single Judge dated 29.02.2024 and the Division Bench dated 24.07.2024 quashed and the writ petition (W.P.A. No. 16118 of 2023) dismissed; teachers in employment on 10.08.2017 who completed the 18-month NIOS D.El.Ed. (ODL) before 01.04.2019 declared valid diploma holders for applying to other institutions and for promotion; respondent-authorities to consider such appellants and appoint those found eligible on verification within three months; pending applications disposed of.