Allahabad High Court Issues Contempt Notice to UP Basic Education Secretary in 69,000 Teacher Recruitment Case

Prayagraj: The long-running controversy surrounding the recruitment of 69,000 basic school teachers in Uttar Pradesh has entered another legal phase, with the Allahabad High Court taking a serious view of alleged non-compliance with its earlier directions.

The court has issued notice to Surendra Tiwari, Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Council, in a contempt petition alleging that education authorities failed to extend the benefit of a judicial order to all eligible candidates affected by a disputed question in the recruitment examination.

Hearing the petition filed by recruitment candidate Arun Pratap Singh Parmar, Justice Piyush Agrawal observed that the submissions made before the court, along with the available records, indicated that the respondents had wilfully failed to comply with its earlier order.

The court has directed the secretary to either produce an order demonstrating compliance with the judicial directions or remain personally present at the next hearing to face further proceedings in the contempt matter.

The case has been scheduled for December 1, 2026.

Dispute over additional marks to affected candidates

The controversy stems from an earlier decision by a division bench of the Allahabad High Court concerning a question on ‘Shaikshik Paribhasha’ (educational terminology) in the examination conducted for the recruitment of 69,000 basic school teachers.

According to the petitioner, the division bench had directed the authorities to award one additional mark to candidates affected by the disputed question and prepare the revised results accordingly.

However, Parmar alleged that the authorities did not extend the benefit of the ruling to all candidates falling within its ambit.

Instead, the petitioner claimed that the education department considered the case of only one candidate and granted the benefit on May 7, 2026.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that limiting the implementation of the court’s directions to an individual candidate, rather than extending the relief to all similarly placed applicants, amounted to deliberate disobedience of the judicial order and warranted contempt action against the responsible officials.

After considering the submissions and examining the material placed before it, Justice Agrawal passed the order on November 6, 2026.

The latest development has once again brought the implementation of court orders in the 69,000-teacher recruitment process under judicial scrutiny.

The matter will now be taken up on December 1, when the court is expected to examine the authorities’ response and decide the further course of contempt proceedings.