Refusing to give any relief to the city government, the Delhi High Court today termed as "strange" its plea seeking lifting of a stay on the process of appointing guest teachers so that it could could fill 8,000 vacancies in schools here.
"It is very surprising why the Delhi government is proceeding this way. It is very difficult. They still wish to proceed in the manner they want to, but the procedure has to be followed," the court observed.
Justice A K Chawla said the court was not getting a "clear picture" of the matter and things were "very strange".
The court orally observed, "If you (Delhi government) want to do the appointments of guest teachers on ad-hoc basis, why don't you simultaneously make regular appointments."
It was hearing Department of Education (DoE) of the Delhi government's plea seeking vacation of the stay granted on September 27 on the process of appointing guest teachers and promoting those appointed since 2010 in the government schools.
The court, however, said its interim order of stay will continue.
The AAP government has filed the application in a pending contempt plea filed by NGO Social Jurist, represented through advocate Ashok Aggarwal, seeking a stay on the order of the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) withdrawing a notice on appointment of 8,914 school teachers.
Delhi government's standing counsel Ramesh Singh said the stay order was causing serious prejudice to students who were suffering due to shortage of teachers.
He contended that till newly created posts of teachers are filled up either through recruitment or regularisation, guest teachers are required as a stop-gap arrangement against the newly created posts, which is not possible now due to the stay order.
He said that they need it for 2017-18 academic session.
The court asked the government to come up with a "logical and legal" solution for filling up vacancy of teachers in schools and that it was not averse to guest teachers but was concerned about everyone's interest.
On September 27, it had directed the Delhi government to maintain status quo with regard to fresh appointment and promotion of guest teachers as regulars in its schools, after it was informed that the authorities have not complied with the high court's 2001 order.
The court was also informed that a bill was recently passed in the Delhi Legislative Assembly to regularise all guest teachers appointed since 2010.
The division bench in its 2001 order had asked the DSSSB to ensure zero vacancy of teachers in schools here on the commencement of each academic year.
The Delhi government had introduced the DSSSB with the purpose of recruiting capable, competent and highly-skilled individuals by conducting written tests, professional tests and personal interviews.
The NGO has claimed that "unfortunately, the directions have never been complied with, resulting in accumulation of vacancies of teaching posts since 2011. No attempt has been made by the DSSSB for last several years to fill up the posts and provide regular teachers."
The plea said after a high court order of April 11, the DSSSB issued vacancy notice on August 7 inviting applications from candidates for 8,914 teaching posts in the DoE of the Delhi government and for 5,906 teaching posts in the three municipal corporation schools here.
It alleged that the DSSSB, without informing or seeking permission from the court, had on August 24 "abruptly withdrawn the advertisement" regarding these vacancies.
"The respondents have been deliberately and for some political motives delaying recruitment of regular teachers to the detriment of the interest of as many as 23 lakh students studying in schools run by the Government of Delhi and three municipal corporations," the plea has alleged.
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