Court No. - 18
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5308 of 2018 Petitioner :- Punam Singh and others Respondent :- State Of U.P.
Counsel for Petitioner :- Agnihotri Kumar Tripathi,Anil Kumar Singh Bishen Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Ashok Kumar Yadav
Hon'ble Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.
Heard Shri Anil Kumar Singh Bishen, learned counsel for the petitioners; Shri M.C. Chaturvedi, Additional Advocate General assisted by Shri P.K. Pandey and Shri B.B. Pandey, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel, Shri Santosh Kumar & Shri Anurag Srivastava, learned Standing Counsel for the State respondent nos.1 and 3 and Shri A.K. Yadav, learned counsel for respondent no.3.
The petitioners are before this Court assailing the revised answer key of UPTET Examination-2017 held on 15.10.2017 and for direction to the respondents to delete all disputed questions and award the marks of disputed questions to them and to permit them for applying online applications for Assistant Teacher Recruitment Examination-2018 issued in pursuance of Government order dated 9.1.2018 in the light of the order dated 2.2.2018 passed by Lucknow Bench of this Court in Writ Petition (S/S) No.28222 of 2017 (Mohd. Rizwan and 103 others vs. State of UP and others).
The petitioners have challenged in the examination of U.P. Teacher Eligibility Test-2017 (Primary Level) on the ground that aforesaid examination has been conducted contrary to the guidelines issued by the National Council for Teachers Education (in short, NCRT) and further the Secretary/Registrar of the Examination Regulatory Authority U.P. Allahabad has issued the order dated 24.12.2014 whereby syllabus adopted and issued was not only against the guidelines of NCRT but also the questions have not been asked strictly in accordance with the guidelines of NCRT and several questions having multiple options were wrong as none of the options were correct answers to the concerned questions and several questions have more than one answer.
The present matter was initially taken up before this Court on 8.2.2018 and on the said date the Court had passed following order:-
"It is contended by learned counsel for the petitioners that similar controversy has come up before the Lucknow Bench of this Court in Service Single No.28222 of 2017 (Mohd. Rizwan & Ors. v. State of U.P. & Ors.) in which the Court has proceeded to pass the following order:-
"............After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, prima- facie, it appears that the submission of learned counsel for the petitioners find force and, therefore, the matter requires consideration. Since the last date for making registration to appear in the examination in question is 5.2.2018, therefore, the interim protection is granted to the petitioners.
As an interim measure, it is directed that the last date for making registration to appear in the examination of Assistant Teacher Recruitment Examination, 2018 which is to be conducted in pursuance of Government Order dated 17.1.2018 would be extended up to 12.2.2018 for the petitioners only.
It is made clear that the aforesaid protection would be given only to the petitioners who are before the Court as on today by filing aforesaid writ petitions and the authorities are directed to pass necessary orders only for the petitioners that they would be permitted to make registration till 12.2.2018 instead of 5.2.2018 in respect of Assistant Teacher Recruitment Examination, 2018.
List / put up in the next week when this Bench is available."
As such it is submitted that once in similar circumstances indulgence has been extended at Lucknow Bench of this Court, similar direction may also be passed in this writ petition also.
Confronted with this situation, Shri A.K. Yadav as well as other counsels, who appear for the Board pray for and are accorded time upto tomorrow to seek necessary instructions in the matter.
Put up tomorrow for further hearing."
Thereafter the matter was taken up on 9.2.2018 and on the request of learned Additional Advocate General, it was posted for hearing on 12.2.2018. When the matter was taken up on 12.2.2018, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel informed to the Court that similar controversy is engaging attention of Lucknow Bench of this Court in Service Single No.28222 of 2017 and as such, request has been made that the hearing of the present matter may be differed. Thereafter, on their request the matter was directed to be listed 22.2.2018. Thereafter, the matter was listed on 22.2.2018, 27.2.2018, 9.3.2018 and lastly it was listed on 14.3.2018. On all occasions, on the requests of learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel, the case has been passed over.
At the very outset, learned counsel for the petitioners apprises to the Court that the bunch of writ petitions have been filed before Lucknow Bench of this Court, led by Service Single No.28222 of 2017 (Mohd. Rizwan and 103 ors. vs. State of U.P. through Principal Secretary, Basic Education, Civil Sectt, Lucknow and others) and the aforesaid writ petition along with connected matters have been partly allowed by learned Single Judge of Lucknow Bench of this Court on 06.03.2018, with following observations/directions:-
"In view of the aforesaid discussions, the writ petitions deserve to be allowed in part.
A writ in the nature of certiorari is issued quashing the result to the extent of fourteen (14) questions only, as stated in para nos. 85 and 86 of this judgment.
A writ of mandamus is issued commanding the Secretary, Examination Regulatory Authority to make a fresh evaluation of all the answer sheets of the candidates by deleting 14 questions, as stated in para 85 and 86 of this order from the total questions of question papers. The Secretary, Examination Regulatory Authority shall declare the results on the basis of the above direction as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of one month and thereafter the examination of The Assistant Teacher Recruitment Examination, 2018 shall be conducted. It is needless to direct that till the completion of aforesaid exercise the examination of the Assistant Teacher Recruitment Examination, 2018 be postponed for further date.
No orders as to cost."
Learned counsel for the petitioners states that once the same UPTET Examination-2017 has also been assailed by the petitioners, then on the same footing, the present writ petition is also liable to be allowed in terms of the judgement of this Court in Mohd. Rizwan's case (supra).
Shri P.K. Pandey, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel informs to the Court that the aforesaid judgment and order has been assailed by the State respondents by preferring Special Appeal before the Lucknow Bench and even the day-to-day hearing is going on, as such again the request has been made for deferment of the hearing of the aforesaid case.
Learned counsel appearing for the parties have also made a statement at bar that the Division Bench of Lucknow High Court has heard the matter but at no point of time the aforesaid judgment and order has been stayed and meanwhile, the respondent Regulatory Authority has also proceeded to differ the ongoing Assistant Teachers Recruitment Examination-2018, which was scheduled to be held on 12th March 2018.
In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, this Court is of the considered opinion that once learned Single Judge has already decided the controversy in hand in Mohd. Rizwan's case (supra) and partly allowed the writ petition, then in such situation there is no occasion or reason for this Court for taking any contrary view in the aforesaid matter and the present matter is liable to be partly allowed in terms of judgment and order passed in Mohd. Rizwan's case (supra).
Consequent, the writ petition is also partly allowed in terms of the judgment and order rendered in in Mohd. Rizwan's case (supra).
Order Date :- 28.3.2018 Shiv/RKP