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Service & Administrative LawSupreme Court of India

Nesar Ahmed and Another v. State of Jharkhand and Others

Writ Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 59 of 2010)Decided 25 Feb 2014
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 59 of 2010
Justice S.S. Nijjar · Justice A.K. Sikri

Background

Trained teachers sought appointments in Jharkhand schools by invoking earlier litigation concerning teacher recruitment in undivided Bihar. They wanted their training and seniority recognised despite being beyond the current age limit. Jharkhand had meanwhile adopted its own recruitment rules, and earlier challenges seeking unrestricted age relaxation had already failed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the petitions and pending applications. Jharkhand was recruiting trained teachers through its prescribed selection process and allowing the five-year relaxation permitted by its amended rules. Giving the petitioners unlimited relaxation would undo earlier High Court decisions that had become final. Their counterparts' success in separate Bihar litigation did not establish the same entitlement in Jharkhand, where the governing rules and litigation history differed.

Lesson Learnt

Training makes a candidate eligible only within the applicable recruitment framework; it does not guarantee a government teaching job. A final decision rejecting an age-relaxation claim cannot be avoided simply by bringing substantially the same demand in another petition.

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