On Monday, the Supreme Court stayed an Allahabad High Court order that had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare a fresh list for the recruitment of 69,000 assistant teachers [Ravi Kumar Saxena and ors v. State of Uttar Pradesh and ors].
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sought a response from the State on the petitions before the Court and ordered that the existing recruitment list remain unchanged until further notice.
The case is scheduled for its next hearing on September 23.
The appeals challenge an August 13 ruling by the Lucknow Bench of the High Court, which had invalidated the selection lists for assistant teachers issued by the State in June 2020 and January 2022, affecting 6,800 candidates from the reserved category. The High Court’s decision was in response to appeals against a March 2023 order questioning the validity of the reservations in those recruitments.
During the Supreme Court hearing, CJI Chandrachud remarked in a light-hearted manner, “So much crowd for this case! This is called anticipatory mobilisation.”
Advocate Sahil Tagotra represented the teachers, while Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the State of Uttar Pradesh.
