Gauhati High Court Grants Relief to Nagaland Teachers as State Mandates TET

Kohima: The Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, has granted interim relief to nine B.Ed-qualified primary teachers in Nagaland. Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund ruled on August 18 that these teachers may provisionally enrol in a six-month bridge course. The petitioners are fighting state notifications issued on July 28 and August 5, 2026, which restricted their ability to complete the course before an August 30 deadline. These teachers argue that their appointments prior to June 28, 2018, exempt them from specific directives applied to later hires.

The court declined to rule on the merits of the case immediately but issued a notice to the respondents returnable within four weeks. The petitioners leaned on the Supreme Court’s April 8, 2024, order in Devesh Sharma v Union of India, which protected B.Ed-qualified teachers appointed before August 11, 2023. Justice Khaund noted the situation required “consideration with circumspection.”

Simultaneously, the Nagaland Directorate of School Education has made the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) mandatory for all in-service primary and graduate teachers. Teachers appointed before the Right to Education Act, 2009, must qualify by August 31, 2028, provided they had over five years of service left as of September 1, 2025. Failure to pass will trigger compulsory retirement with terminal benefits. The rule also covers those hired after the 2009 Act took effect. Teachers with less than five years remaining by September 2025 are exempt from the test, though they remain barred from promotion unless they qualify.

In other courtroom developments, Justice Khaund ordered the disposal of an appeal filed by a Sub-Inspector in Kiphire within two months, noting that the case had languished for seven months despite a three-month legal limit. The court also permitted three Child Development Project Officers to join a pending promotion case. These officers, who face retirement in 2027, sought to intervene regarding potential vacancies for Joint Director and District Programme Officer roles.