English Version Of National Council For Teachers Education Regulation Will Prevail Over Hindi To Assess Recruitment Criteria: MP High Court

Justice Subodh Abhyankar observed, “As per Article 348 (1)(b)(iii) of the Constitution of India, the authoritative texts of all orders, rules, Regulations and bye-laws issued under the Constitution or under any law made by Parliament or the Legislature of a State, shall be in the English language. Since the NCTE Regulation, 2014 are the Central Government regulations, in case of any discrepancy, the regulations which are in English language shall prevail. In such circumstances, this Court has no hesitation to hold that on the basis of the Regulation, 2014 (Annexure-R/3), which are in Hindi, respondents have erred in coming to the conclusion that the eligibility to hold B.Ed. degree is graduation with 50% marks, to the exclusion of master's degree. Whereas, in English version of the same, the eligibility criteria is stated to be bachelor's degree or master's degree in relevant subject with 50% marks and thus, apparently the English version shall prevail.”

The petitioner had participated in the Middle School Teaching Eligibility Test, 2018 for the post of Middle School Teacher. After declaration of results, it was found that the petitioner did not meet the eligibility criterion only because she did not secure 50% or more marks in her graduation. Therefore, the petitioner was aggrieved by the order where the respondents had prescribed the eligibility criteria for appointment of Middle School Teacher to a candidate having B.Ed. degree with 50% marks.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that as per the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) notification which provides for the norms and standards for Bachelor of Education program leading to the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) Degree provides that the candidate should have 50% marks either in bachelor degree and/or master degree in the relevant subject. It was further submitted that although the petitioner obtained bachelor degree with 47.50 marks, however, she passed her master's degree with 50% marks.

The counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the relevant condition of the advertisement states the eligibility criteria that in the relevant subject the candidate must have at least 45% in graduation as per the Regulations–published in English–issued in accordance with National Council for Teachers Education (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulation, 2014 from time to time. Thus, it was submitted that there was no mandatory condition that petitioner must have 50% marks in her graduation to obtain B.Ed. degree.

On the contrary, the counsel for the respondents submitted that it was apparent that the eligibility criteria under the NCTE Regulation, 2014 is “graduation only with at least 50% marks” and there was no reference of post-graduation in the eligibility criteria.

After hearing the parties, the Court noted that there was a material discrepancy between English version of the Regulation as produced by the petitioner and the Hindi version of the same, as produced by the respondent department. On perusal of the both the versions, the Court found that in the Hindi version of the 2014 Regulations the master's degree as provided in English version was missing.

Referring to Article 348 (1)(b)(iii) of the Constitution of India, the Court held that since the NCTE Regulation, 2014 are the Central Government regulations, therefore, in case of any discrepancy, the regulations which are in English language shall prevail.

The Court further noted that the relevant advertisement does not even prescribe the condition of holding the degree with 50% marks.“Thus, going by the aforesaid condition, admittedly, the petitioner has obtained 47.5 marks in graduation and has also obtained B.Ed. degree from a recognized university and thus, on this ground also action on the part of the respondents cannot be countenanced in the eyes of law.”, the Court said.

The petition was hence, allowed.

“…it is directed to the respondents to issue to the petitioner, the appointment order for Middle School Teacher along with all the consequential benefits excluding the pecuniary benefits which have been given to the similarly situated candidates who had appeared in Middle School Teacher Eligibility Test 2018.”, the Court observed.

Case Title: Sunita Gupta Versus The State Of Madhya Pradesh School Education Department And Others

Writ Petition No. 3673 Of 2023

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (MP) 84