TNTET 2013 - 5% தளர்வினை எதிர்த்த வழக்கில் மனுதாரர்கள் அரசு தரப்பு வாதங்களும் நீதியரசர் நாகமுத்துவின் கருத்துக்களும்
23. The common grounds in the writ petitions concerned would be as follows:-
(i) The impugned Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.25, dated 06.02.2014 which was issued after the entire selection process was over for the examination conducted in August, 2013, would amount to changing the rules of the game after the game is over.
(ii) By reducing the pass percentage to 55%, the respondents have diluted the pass percentage and have made more candidates eligible along with the petitioners which has adversely affected the rights of the petitioners.
(iii) The retrospective operation under the impugned G.O.Ms.No.25, dated 06.02.2014 to TET examinations held in August, 2013 materially affects the vested right of the petitioners for selection.
(iv) The impugned Government Order suffers from total non-application of mind in as much as the relaxation is not on the ground that there are no eligible candidates.
(v) The impugned Government Order is bereft of any reasoning for the issuance of the same and thus the said G.O. is highly unreasonable.
(vi) The impugned Government Order is against the provisions of the Right to Education Act and NCTE Notification which enables the Government to only reduce the pass marks, only, if there is any hardship or that there are no enough number of candidates.
24. In the common counter filed by the Government, it is, inter alia, stated as follows:
(i) There were several representations from different quarters seeking concessions to the reserved categories. The Government after detailed examination of the said requests decided to grant such concessions to the said category of persons in the TET exams conducted in the year 2013 and to all the future TET exams and accordingly passed the Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.25. The Government has gone one step further and allowed 5 % relaxation from the existing 60 % for determining eligibility in the TET for candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Backward Classes (Muslim), Most Backward Classes, De-notified Communities (DNC) and Persons with Disability (PWD).
(ii) Giving concession is the policy of the Government and it is within its discretion and so, the Courts cannot either interfere with such policy matters nor could it direct the State Government not to give such concession.
(iii) In respect of the candidates who have already appeared in the TET held in the year 2013 the process of selection is under way and it is yet to be completed. Therefore, the said order has been made applicable to the candidates who have appeared for TET held in the year 2013.
25. I have meticulously considered the above rival contentions. In none of the writ petitions, the power of the State Government to give relaxation for the benefit of reserved categories in the matter of percentage of marks for a pass in the TET has been questioned. The foremost ground is that the Government has issued the impugned Government Order in total non-application of mind. As has been stated in the common counter affidavit filed by the respondents, the Government has considered the representations from various quarters seeking relaxation of 5% of pass mark for specified and under privileged communities and having regard to the same, the Government has taken a policy decision to relax the same. Therefore, it cannot be stated that the Government has passed the impugned order in total non-application of mind.
26. Nextly, it is contended by the petitioners that such concessions could be granted only if there is no required number of candidates eligible for appointment. In my considered opinion, this contention is totally baseless as TET is not a competitive examination but it is only a qualifying examination. If the candidates have once passed the said examination, the pass certificate will be valid for seven years and there is no need for them to write the examination every time. At the same time, there is also no restriction for the passed candidates to re-appear to enhance the marks. Thus, it should be understood that TET is only a qualifying examination to qualify persons for appointment as teachers. Therefore, it is not tenable to state that if only there are no sufficient number of candidates available in the market who have passed the TET for appointment, such relaxation could be given. Therefore, this ground is rejected.
27. Yet another ground raised, upon which much focus is made, is that the rules of the game cannot be changed once the game has started. In this case, according to the petitioners the TET Examinations 2013 were held on 17th and 18th of August, 2013 and as per the prospectus issued, the minimum required marks for a pass was 60%. Based on the said prescription, the results were published and the successful candidates were also called for certificate verification and only after that, the impugned Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.25, dated 06.02.2014 has been issued. The grievance of the petitioners is that since the relaxation of 5% of marks has been given to candidates who have appeared in the already concluded examination, it will materially affect the chance of the candidates who have already passed and secured more than 60% of marks, while they are considered for appointment. This argument, in my considered opinion, though attractive, does not persuade me at all. If it is a competitive examination, I may find some justification in the said contention that the rules of the game cannot be changed subsequently. But as I have already pointed out, it is only a qualifying examination.
28. The basic difference between a competitive examination and a qualifying examination is that in a competitive examination, success or failure of one candidate will have an impact on the other candidates because it is a competition between the them. But, in a qualifying examination, success or failure of one candidate will have no bearing on the other. Both the candidates appear for examination only to qualify themselves so as to make themselves eligible for appointment as teachers in future. Thus, the principles applicable to a competitive examination cannot be simply imported to a qualifying examination in a mechanical fashion.
29. The learned counsel Mrs.Dakshayani Reddy appearing the petitioner in W.P.No.10849 of 2014 would make reliance on the judgements of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in K.Manjusree v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (2008) 3 SCC 512 and Tamil Nadu Computer Science, B.Ed., Graduate Teachers Welfare Society v. Higher Secondary School Computer Technical Assistant and others [Civil Appeal No.4187 of 2009 arising out of SLP (C) No.25097 of 2008 dated 09.07.2009].
30. A close reading of the above judgements would go to show that the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in those judgements, has reiterated the principle that the rules of the game cannot be changed after the game is over. But all those cases pertain to competitive examinations and the ultimate selection for appointment. In a qualifying examination, if the change of the rule has materially affected the chances of anybody in getting qualified, then the said principle can be applied even to a qualifying examination. But, if the rules are changed only for the benefit of the candidates and not to the detriment of any single candidate, then the said principle that the rules of the game cannot be changed after the game is over cannot be made applicable. In this case, the relaxation of 5% of marks given to certain reserved categories has not affected the chance of any candidate in getting qualified. Therefore, the contention of the petitioners in this regard is liable to be rejected and accordingly rejected.
31. Nextly, it is contended that because retrospective relaxation is given to the already concluded examinations, more number of candidates will get qualified and such qualified candidates who have secured less than 60% of marks will compete with the petitioners in the matter of appointment and thus the impugned Government Order materially affects the accrued rights of the petitioners. I find no force in this argument for more than one reason. First of all, as has been very clearly stated in the NCTE regulations as well as in the TET Notification, a mere pass in the TET does not confer any right for appointment as a teacher. As I have repeatedly stated, it is only a qualification for appointment as a teacher. In the additional common counter affidavit filed by the Government (dated 23.04.2014) it is stated as follows:
Pursuant to the notification issued by the NCTE, the State Government framed the guidelines for the Teacher Eligibility Test. The State Government is yet to issue the notification for recruitment of Secondary Grade Teachers and Graduate Assistants for the present academic year.
32. Of course, it is true that the candidates who have already secured 60% marks and above have already been called for certificate verification. But such exercise shall not confer any right on them that they shall be appointed as teachers. Therefore, I hold that the publication of results of the TET conducted in August 2013 has not conferred any right of employment as against existing vacancies on the candidates who have secured 60% of marks and above. Thus there is no vested right as claimed by the petitioners so as to say that they have been affected by G.O.Ms.No.25, dated 06.02.2014. Further, when the Government has taken a policy decision to reduce the percentage of marks for the benefit of reserved categories, for a pass and when the power of the Government to do so is not challenged, I find no substance in the challenge. Therefore, this ground is also rejected.
33. For the foregoing discussions , I hold that G.O.Ms.No.25 dated 06.02.2014 is valid and the challenge made to the same has to necessarily fail
Sent from my iPad
கருத்துகள் இல்லை:
கருத்துரையிடுக