Delhi govt appeals in HC against order on teachers appointment

The Delhi High Court today said it was concerned over the vacancies of regular teachers in government schools which should be filled at the earliest with candidates having best qualification and experience.
The court's observation came during the hearing of an appeal filed by the Delhi government challenging the order of a single judge of the high court staying the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board's (DSSSB) notice withdrawing the process of appointment of over 8,914 teachers for the schools run by the AAP government.
The single judge had asked the authorities to issue a fresh advertisement calling for applications from eligible candidates by December 20 which shall be received latest by December 31.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Deepa Sharma said, "What we are concerned is that teachers should be appointed in the best possible manner and in the shortest possible manner. We want teachers to be appointed at the earliest with best qualification and experience."
It listed the matter for hearing tomorrow.
The Department of Education, in its appeal filed through Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia, sought setting aside of single judge's December 11 order in which it was said that the court's permission ought to have been sought before issuing the withdrawal notice on August 24.

"Finding of the single judge is not only unsustainable... but also on account of the fact that the present contempt proceedings were only concerned with mere filling up of the vacancies and not with the conditions prescribed for filling up the vacancies," the appeal filed through Delhi government standing counsel Ramesh Singh said.

The single judge's order had come on a contempt petition by NGO Social Jurist alleging deliberate omission in compliance of the court's December 2001 order.
The NGO, through advocate Ashok Aggarwal, had also filed an application seeking a stay on the DSSSB order withdrawing a notice on appointment of the teachers in government-run schools here. It had alleged that the Board's notice of August 24 was "illegal and contemptuous in nature".

The government, in its appeal, alleged that the single judge has failed to appreciate that the directions for appointment of teachers in government schools clearly amounts to the court entering the arena of policy making, something ex-facie, unsustainable in law moresoever when the court is exercising a contempt jurisdiction.
The Delhi government had introduced the Board with the purpose of recruiting capable, competent and highly-skilled individuals by conducting written tests, professional tests and personal interviews.
The NGO had submitted that in a 2001 order the court had directed the DSSSB to ensure zero vacancy of teachers in Delhi government schools on the commencement of each academic year.

The plea had said that after a high court order of April 11 this year, the DSSSB issued a vacancy notice on August 7 inviting applications from candidates for 8,914 teaching posts in the Directorate of Education of the Delhi government and for 5,906 teaching posts in the three municipal corporation schools here.