Rajasthan High Court Grants Relief To Teachers Demoted On Ground Of 1-Year Certificate Course Not Considered Equivalent To Degree Course

Rajasthan High Court granted relief to government teachers whose promotion to the post of senior teachers was overturned on the ground that the B.A. Additional course undertaken by them for being eligible for the post was just a certificate/vacation evaluation course and not equivalent to the degree course.

The bench of Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur found the decision of the State to be "erroneous" in light of the reply filed by the University from which the course was done. As per the reply submitted by the Mewar University, the duration of the B.A. additional course was not 90 days but one year.

"In the considered opinion of this Court, nothing has come on record which shows that the B.A. Additional Course conducted by the respondent-University is not recognized, therefore, the B.A. Additional Course conducted by the University is held to be equivalent to the eligibility condition mentioned in Schedule-1 of the Rules of 2008 and, therefore, the certificates/vacational B.A. Additional Course possessed by the petitioners are held to be valid as per the Rules of 2008. Thus, the promotions granted to the petitioners on the post of Senior Teacher is just, proper and correct as they are holding the requisite qualification for the post"

It was highlighted that even though the admitted person was not required to attend the classes, since it was a distant course on self-study mode, all the papers of a particular subject taught at the graduate level during three years, were taught in one year under this course, and the student had to pass all the papers.

The petitioners were working as teachers with the State department, and they did a course titled “B.A. in Additional Subject” for being considered for promotion to the post of Senior Teachers. After they were promoted, based on certain complaints, they were considered ineligible for the promotion since their course was not being treated equivalent to the degree course in that subject.

Hence, their promotions were overturned, against which the teachers approached the high court. 

It was the case of the petitioners that their course was not of 90 days, as was alleged by the State, and based on its curriculum, for all intents and purposes, it was equivalent to a degree course of 3 years in that particular subject.

On the contrary, as per the State, the course was a vacational course undertaken by the petitioners only during the vacations. It was submitted that since the petitioners were serving as teachers, they had no other days available except for the holidays to undertake the course. Hence, the course could not be treated as being equivalent to the degree course.

After perusing all the records, including the submission by the Mewar University, the Court said,

“The respondents basically has decided the case of the petitioners on the ground that the course undertaken by the petitioners is a vacational course, which can be completed within a period of 90 days during the vacation period and since the petitioners are serving employees of the respondent Department, they cannot get more holidays than their vacations. The basis for reaching such conclusion is that since the certificate course runs only for a period of 90 days and the petitioners have not done the said course for a full year or for a larger duration, therefore, it cannot be treated as equivalent to a degree.”

In light of the explanation provided by the university of the Course actually being of one year, having all papers of a 3-year graduate course in its curriculum, the Court found the foundation of the State's order erroneous, opining that there was nothing to show that the course was not equivalent to a degree course. 

Allowing the plea the court held the promotions to be proper and correct.

Title: Ashok Kumar & Ors. v State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 251

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