Delhi HC seeks AAP govt reply on withdrawal of teachers' appointment order

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of the AAP government on a plea seeking a stay on the order of the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) withdrawing a notice on the appointment of 8,914 school teachers. Justice AK Chawla also issued a notice to the DSSSB on the plea alleging that its notice of 24 August was “illegal and contemptuous in nature”. [caption id=“attachment_3458368” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi High Court. AFP[/caption] The Delhi government had introduced the Board with the purpose of recruiting capable, competent and highly-skilled individuals by conducting written tests, professional tests and personal interviews. The court asked the authorities to file their responses within a week and listed the matter for 21 September. It was submitted that in a 2001 order, the court had directed the DSSSB to ensure zero vacancies of teachers in Delhi government schools on the commencement of each academic year. “Unfortunately, the directions have never been complied with, resulting in accumulation of vacancies of teaching posts since 2011. No attempt has been made by the DSSSB for last several years to fill up the posts and provide regular teachers,” an NGO Social Jurist said in its petition. The plea, filed through advocate Ashok Agarwal, said after a high court order of 11 April, the DSSSB issued vacancy notice on 7 August inviting applications from candidates for 8,914 teaching posts in the Directorate of Education of the Delhi government and for 5,906 teaching posts in the three municipal corporation schools. It alleged that the DSSSB, without informing or seeking permission from the court, had on 24 August “abruptly withdrawn the advertisement” regarding these vacancies. “The respondents have been deliberately and for some political motives delaying recruitment of regular teachers to the detriment of the interest of as many as 23 lakh students studying in schools run by the Government of Delhi and three municipal corporations,” the plea said.