The Telangana High Court has instructed the Telangana Residential Educational Institutions Recruitment Board (TREIRB) to organize written exams for art teachers within the Residential Educational Institutions Societies (REIs). These exams will be conducted in both English and Telugu.

In response to a writ petition challenging the actions of the Recruitment Board, Justice Pulla Karthik issued an order. The petition raised concerns about the Board's decision to conduct the exam solely in English, despite the initial notification indicating that the exam would be conducted in two languages.

The court ruled that introducing new requirements after the selection process has concluded is impermissible.

The petitioner cited the case of K. Manjusree v. State of Andhra Pradesh to argue that the failure to conduct the exam in the Telugu language violated Schedule-VIII of the Indian Constitution, which recognizes Telugu as one of the languages. Additionally, it was contended that providing the question paper solely in English language constituted discrimination against candidates who did not have proficiency in English, thereby violating Article 14 of the Constitution.

The Recruitment Board, in response, argued that previous exams for the position of Arts Teachers had also been conducted exclusively in English. Furthermore, it contended that the decision to conduct written exams in this manner was based on the fact that all Residential Institutions operating under the five Residential societies within the state were in English. The objective behind this approach was to uphold the vocabulary and coaching standards, as teachers in these institutions were required to teach in English to effectively compete with students from private and corporate English Medium schools.

The Court acknowledged the precedent set in the K. Manjusree case, wherein it was established that introducing new requirements after the conclusion of the selection process would be equal to changing the rules after the game was played. It observed,

The Court issued an order directing the respondents to conduct a fresh written examination for the post, ensuring that it is conducted in both English and Telugu.

Case no.: WP 22593 of 2023

Counsel for petitioners: Bhaglekar Akash Kumar

Counsel for respondent: N Ramesh.