Nagaland: HC grants final extension to Centre in Hindi teachers’ recruitment case

DIMAPUR — The Kohima Bench of Gauhati High Court has granted the Union of India a final three-week extension to file its affidavit-in-opposition in a writ petition challenging the eligibility criteria for recruitment of Hindi graduate teachers in Nagaland.

The order, issued on Wednesday by a Bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Yarenjungla Longkumer, noted that the matter has been pending since 2022 despite the state Education department and the Ministry of Education being aware of the case.

The writ petition, filed in 2022 by 22 petitioners, contests the provisions of Nagaland School Education Service Rules, 2017, which prescribe eligibility norms for Hindi graduate teachers.

In an earlier order issued on August 2, 2022, the High Court had recorded that the petitioners, many holding Ratna (equivalent to BA) and Acharya (equivalent to MA) degrees in Hindi, were barred from applying as their qualifications did not meet the advertised criteria of graduation or post-graduation with Hindi as an elective subject along with B.Ed.

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The petitioners argued that requiring B.Ed in Hindi (Parangat), when no such course is available in Nagaland, was unreasonable and discriminatory.

While the court at the time declined to halt the interview process, it directed the authorities not to declare the results of the recruitment of Hindi graduate teachers until the case is disposed of.

The Union of India, represented by the Ministry of Education, was impleaded as a respondent by an order dated February 14, 2024, on the ground that the framing of teacher eligibility norms involved the Centre.

In a subsequent order dated March 12, 2025, the Court recorded that an affidavit from the Union was necessary to clarify the availability of recognised Hindi teacher training courses across the country and whether degrees such as Ratna and Acharya could be considered equivalent for the purpose of recruitment.

The recruitment stems from an advertisement issued on March 16, 2022, for graduate teachers in Mathematics, Science, and Hindi, followed by a corrigendum on May 30 allowing non-Naga candidates to apply for Hindi teacher posts due to a shortage of qualified applicants within the state.

The matter will be listed again on October 15.