Recruitment Authorities Are Estopped From Contradicting Previously Accepted Final Answer Key: Tripura High Court
The Tripura High Court has held that recruitment authorities cannot subsequently depart from a position reflected in their earlier final answer key, particularly where the same answer had been accepted as correct in a previous examination.
The Court observed that the Teachers' Recruitment Board, Tripura (TRBT), was estopped from taking a contrary stand in respect of an answer which it had previously accepted, and directed the Board to award an additional mark to the petitioner in the T-TET 2024, Paper-I examination.
Justice Biswajit Palit remarked that: “The respondents are estopped from taking any further plea that the petitioner is not entitled to get any relief… TRBT at this stage cannot take any different step deviating from their earlier statement made in the final answer keys.”
Background
The petitioner, Rupak Majumder, appeared for the T-TET 2024, Paper-I conducted by the Teachers' Recruitment Board, Tripura (TRBT), and secured 89 marks against the qualifying cut-off of 90 marks. He had answered “Group factor theory” to Question No. 9, relating to the “Anarchic theory of intelligence”, but was not awarded the mark.
The petitioner pointed out that the same question had appeared in T-TET 2022, where TRBT's final answer key had accepted “Group factor theory” as the correct answer. After TRBT rejected his representation and maintained that the correct answer was “None of the above”, he approached the Tripura High Court seeking an additional mark and consequential declaration of his result.
The Tripura High Court held that TRBT could not take a contrary position after having accepted “Group factor theory” as the correct answer to the same question in the T-TET 2022 final answer key. The Court observed that no subsequent notification had been issued declaring the earlier answer incorrect and that candidates had been selected on the basis of the 2022 answer key.
The Court held that the respondents were estopped from deviating from their earlier position and found their action to be impermissible in law. The writ petition was accordingly allowed, with TRBT directed to award the petitioner one additional mark and declare his T-TET 2024 result afresh within two months.
Case Name: Rupak Majummder v/s The State of Tripura
Case No.: WP (C ) No.262 of 2026
Date of Decision: 24.09.2026