The Allahabad High Court has issued a contempt notice to Surendra Tiwari, Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Basic Siksha Parishad, over alleged non-compliance with a judicial direction concerning the recruitment of 69,000 basic school teachers in the state.
Justice Piyush Agrawal, in an order passed on November 6, directed Tiwari to produce an order in his favour or appear personally before the court on December 1, when the matter will be considered for initiation of contempt proceedings.
The court observed that the submissions and records before it indicated wilful disobedience of its earlier order by the respondent authorities.
Dispute Over Implementation of Recruitment Order
The proceedings arose from a contempt petition filed by recruitment candidate Arun Pratap Singh Parmar, who alleged that the education authorities had failed to extend the benefit of an earlier High Court ruling to all eligible candidates.
According to the petitioner, a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court had previously examined a question concerning Saikshik Paribahasa (educational definition) in the recruitment process for 69,000 basic teachers.
The Division Bench had directed the authorities to award one additional mark to the affected candidates and revise the recruitment results accordingly.
However, the petitioner alleged that the authorities implemented the direction in favour of only one candidate on May 7, without considering the claims of other candidates similarly affected by the ruling.
Court Finds Prima Facie Wilful Disobedience
Counsel representing the petitioner argued that the selective implementation of the Division Bench’s order amounted to wilful disobedience and warranted contempt proceedings against the responsible education officials.
After considering the submissions of both sides, Justice Agrawal recorded that the material placed before the court indicated deliberate non-compliance with the earlier judicial direction.
The court consequently issued notice to the Basic Siksha Parishad Secretary, requiring him to produce a favourable order or appear in person at the next hearing.
The contempt petition will be taken up again on December 1.
