VISHWAS KUMAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Mr. Manish Arora, learned counsel for the petitioners, Mr. H.M. Raturi, learned standing counsel for the State of Uttarakhand, Mr. Abhishek Verma Advocate holding brief of Mr. Sudhir Singh, learned counsel for respondent no. 3 and Ms. Geeta Parihar, learned counsel for respondent no. 4.

(2.) THE petitioners are the candidates for examination known as Teachers Eligibility Test. This examination has now been conducted after Article 21 A (b) has been inserted in Part III of the Constitution of India and Right to Education Act having been a fundamental rights. Consequently, Parliament enacted a legislation known as Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (from hereinafter referred to as the Right to Education Act). Under the said Act, the qualifications of a teacher who will now be eligible to teach children in elementary school have to be prescribed by the academic authority of the Central Government under the said Act. Under Section 23 of the above Act only a person possessing said minimum qualification as laid down by an academic authority authorized by the Central Government (which now is National Council of Teacher Education, which is a Central Body) shall be eligible to be appointed as a teacher, in an elementary school.

(3.) THIS is so because now under Article 21-A of the constitution and the right to Education Act, it is not just a fundamental right of children to get elementary education but this right has now become a meaningful right for various reasons and more particularly because a children will be imparted elementary education by qualified and trained teachers, which has already been stated by this Court in Baldev Singh's Case while upholding the validity of such a test, as under: