Setting aside a single judge's order, the Madras High Court has made it clear that for the post of appointment as Post Graduate Assistant teacher only candidates who possess degree after passing plus two course are eligible.
A division bench, comprising Justice Sathish K.Agnihotri and Justice M.M. Sundresh, was allowing an appeal filed by The Chairman, Teachers Recruitment Board and the Director of School Education, Chennai, challenging a single judge's order directing authorities to appoint a candidate for the post of Post Graduate Assistant Teacher in Tamil who obtained her degree first and then passed plus two.
In its order while referring to a government order which prescribed qualification for the appointment in public services, the bench said it is clear that a diploma/degree/Post graduation can only be considered for appointment in public services after a candidate passes tenth Standard as well as Higher Secondary(+2) exams.
The bench, while referring to the candidate V.Kanimozhi, who passed plus 2 after obtaining the degree by writing the exam privately, said "admittedly at the time of completing degree, the candidate did not complete the Plus 2 Course and she thereafter completed the course."
"The question for consideration is as to whether the said action would cure the defect. In our view, the said attempt cannot be substituted to the government order. Any interpretation would amount to re-writing the provisions of the said government order which is impermissible in law, without there being a challenge to the said government order which was upheld by the High Court."
The bench said the appointment is to the post of Post Graduate Assistant Teacher in the Higher Secondary Schools.
The appellants thought it fit to make sure that only those who have completed Plus 2 course and thereafter the degree course be eligible to be considered for a particular post of a teacher, then the wisdom and rationale behind the same cannot be questioned.
The bench said when the rationale of the government order has not been questioned before it there is no arbitrariness in the order which was already upheld.
The bench further said that the issue of recognition of a degree is different from a qualification fixed in service matters and said "an eligibility criteria fixed cannot be said to be an indirect way of derecognizing a degree or diploma. To put it differently, such a degree cannot be termed as an eligible qualification for a particular post.
