Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 22: High Court has stayed the Education Department Order No.140 dated March 23, 2017 regarding conduct of written examination for in-service candidates seeking promotions on the basis of additional qualification obtained through distance modes and issued notice to the Government.
The stay order was issued in a petition filed by Dr Meena Kumari seeking quashment of Government Order No. 140-Edu dated March 23, 2017.
While staying the impugned order, Justice Janak Raj Kotwal observed, “the School Education Department issued Order No. 66-Edu of 2017 dated 16.02.2017 in compliance with Clause (xi) of the Government Order No. 252-HE of 2012 dated 30.05.2012 issued pursuant to a Cabinet Decision No. 104/14/2012 dated 16.05.2012”.
“The order dated 16.02.2017 provides for the written test to assess the quality of degrees obtained by the in-service Masters and Teachers through distance mode prior to their further promotion. Vide the impugned Government Order No. 140-Edu of 2017 dated 23.03.2017, Government Order No. 66-Edu was kept in abeyance, without, however, assigning any reason”, High Court said.
“The effect of this order is that there would be no mechanism to assess the standard of the degrees obtained by in-service Teachers and Masters through distance mode as required under the Cabinet Decision and Government Order No. 252-HE and petitioner, who is a teacher in the Education Department, feels aggrieved as her grievance is that impugned Government Order dated 23.03.2017 has been issued in order to pave way for granting promotion to those candidates who do not possess genuine degrees obtained through the distance mode”, Justice Kotwal said.
After hearing Advocate Ankur Sharma, High Court issued notice to the respondents in the main petition as well as in the MP returnable in four weeks. Meanwhile, as an interim, subject to objections and till next date before the bench, impugned order dated 23.03.2017 was stayed.
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