Nipak Bori and 18 Ors. v. Dipankar Gogoi and 795 Ors. B
Case brief
What is this about?
Secondary TET Assam 2019-20; Teacher Eligibility Test qualifying marks paper-wise versus aggregate; sectional cut-off validity; grace marks in public recruitment; enlargement of eligibility pool without affecting merit ranking; change of rules of the game midway; select list and indefeasible right to appointment; Assam Secondary Education (Provincialised Schools) Service Rules 2018 — Rule 10(1)/(2), Rule 33 relaxation, Schedule-III; RTE Act 2009 and NCTE Guidelines confined to elementary education; Article 14 non-arbitrariness; Tej Prakash Pathak (2025) 2 SCC 1; Subash Chander Marwaha (1974) 3 SCC 220; Jyoti K.K. (2010) 15 SCC 596; Maharashtra Board v Amit (2002) 6 SCC 153; Rupashree Chowdhury (2011) 8 SCC 108; Taniya Malik (2018) 14 SCC 129; Graduate Teacher recruitment Assam; WA/186/2022; WA/215/2022; WA/222/2022; WA/282/2022; WA/283/2022; WA/284/2022.
What did the court decide?
Writ appeals allowed: the Single Judge's judgment dated 18.05.2022 is set aside; the paper-wise 60% qualifying requirement and the 5-grace-marks policy are upheld; appointments already made on raw merit are not to be unsettled; the State is directed to codify the eligibility criterion and any moderation/grace-marks policy prospectively.