10 teachers file writ petition against single bench order that rejected their plea seeking to restrain the govt from terminating them from service for not passing the teacher eligibility test before March 31 this year
CHENNAI: A writ appeal has been filed in the Madras High Court challenging the orders of a single judge, who rejected a plea from 10 teachers to restrain the government from terminating their services for not passing the teacher eligibility test before March 31 this year.
The vacation bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and Subramonium Prasad, before which the appeal from the teachers working in government-aided schools in Thanjavur and Thiruvarur, came up on Thursday, posted the matter to May 15. The petition challenged the orders, dated April 30 last, of Justice S M Subramaniam.
According to petitioners, the single judge had not appreciated the fact that the law expects the State government to hold TET once or twice every year. It had also granted five years time initially and extended the same for a further period of four years. Therefore, the government should have conducted nine or 18 such tests. But the Teachers Recruitment Board had conducted the same just three times -- in 2012, 2013 and 2017, the petitioner said.
When the legal requirement has not been satisfied in conducting TET every year, there cannot be any generalised direction to issue show-cause notices to the teachers, as directed by the single judge. Passing such an order without taking note of the fact that the State had not conducted sufficient number of tests during all these years, the order is prejudicial to the interest of the teachers appointed with qualification as per the rules for not fault of theirs, petitioners further contended.