Bombay High Court, Aurangabad Bench (Division Bench: Smt. Vibha Kankanwadi & Hiten S. Venegavkar, JJ.; reserved 23.03.2026, pronounced 10.04.2026) — Writ Petitions Nos.2771, 2752 and 1956 of 2026 filed by serving Zilla Parishad, Jalgaon teachers challenging the finalized/published seniority list (letters dt. 06.03.2026 of the Education Officer covering Extension Officer (Education) and cluster head) and the promotion-process directives (letters dt. 12.02.2026 of the Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, for Extension Officer Class-2/Class-3, Center Head and Graded Head Master posts restricted to TET/CTET qualifiers) — DISMISSED. Relying on Anjuman Ishaat-E-Taleem Trust v. State of Maharashtra, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1912 (paras 170, 216–218 read conjointly), the Court held that in-service teachers aspiring for promotion must qualify TET/CTET, the operative cut-off being 01.09.2025, the date of the Supreme Court judgment; the petitioners had not cleared TET/CTET on that date and are therefore ineligible for promotion this year, notwithstanding that their CTET results declared on the hearing day showed a pass. Civil Applications Nos.3409 and 3411 of 2026 (seeking modification of the 13.03.2026 order for status quo/non-finalization of the promotion list, akin to W.P. No.2737 of 2026) and intervention C.A. No.3090 of 2026 stand disposed; the prayer for interim protection to enable an approach to the Supreme Court was refused. The Court deprecated the prohibitory letter dt. 20.03.2026 written by Applicant No.1 of C.A. No.3409 of 2026 to the CEO, Zilla Parishad, observing that interim protection cannot be claimed as of right and that similar orders for similarly situated persons remain discretionary.
