Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Rajneesh Kumar Pandey vs Union Of India on 18 November, 2025
Author: Dipankar Datta
Bench: Dipankar Datta
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ITEM NO.46 COURT NO.9 SECTION X
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 132/2016
RAJNEESH KUMAR PANDEY & ORS. Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
MR. RISHI MALHOTRA (AMICUS CURIAE).............[TO BE TAKEN UP AT
3:30 P.M.] ref. order dated 04.11.2025 :-Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal, NCT of Delhi and State of Odisha for 18.11.2025.
WITH
Diary No(s). 51301/2025 (X)
Diary No(s). 52515/2025 (X)
Diary No(s). 54064/2025 (X)
Diary No(s). 57696/2025 (X)
CONTEMPT PETITION(C) No. 591/2022 in W.P.(C) No. 132/2016 (X)
IA No. 160599/2025 - CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION
IA No. 160600/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 136828/2022 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 156275/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 5723/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 157707/2022 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 156274/2024 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 31726/2023 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 5722/2023 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 156466/2022 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/
ANNEXURES
CONTEMPT PETITION(C) No. 856/2023 in W.P.(C) No. 132/2016 (X)
IA No. 62867/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Diary No(s). 10073/2024 (X)
IA No. 75509/2024 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 55972/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Diary No(s). 27076/2024 (X)
IA No. 133338/2024 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 133339/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Signature Not Verified
Diary No(s). 40533/2024 (X)
Digitally signed by
JATINDER KAUR
Date: 2025.11.19
IA No. 201178/2024 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
17:43:21 IST
Reason:
IA No. 243939/2024 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 157415/2025 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
CONTEMPT PETITION(C) No. 589-591/2025 in W.P.(C) No. 132/2016 (X)
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IA No. 189103/2025 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
CONTEMPT PETITION(C) No. 554-556/2025 in W.P.(C) No. 132/2016 (X)
CONTEMPT PETITION(C) No. 520-522/2025 in W.P.(C) No. 132/2016 (X)
IA No. 156720/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
CONTEMPT PETITION(C) No. 603-605/2025 in W.P.(C) No. 132/2016 (X)
IA No. 167407/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Diary No(s). 44233/2025 (X)
IA No. 190229/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 219743/2025 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
Diary No(s). 46686/2025 (X)
IA No. 202571/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 202570/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Diary No(s). 46953/2025 (X)
IA No. 211158/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 211159/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Diary No(s). 47542/2025 (X)
IA No. 208201/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
Diary No(s). 50342/2025 (X)
IA No. 221053/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
Diary No(s). 50639/2025 (X)
IA No. 222174/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
W.P.(C) No. 876/2017 (X)
IA No. 29329/2018 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 29969/2018 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 7557/2019 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
W.P.(C) No. 1099/2023 (X)
FOR ADMISSION
Diary No(s). 46243/2024 (X)
IA No. 230583/2024 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 230575/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Diary No(s). 51158/2024 (X)
IA No. 252704/2024 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 272685/2024 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
Diary No(s). 10426/2025 (X)
IA No. 52265/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 52273/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 72760/2025 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
Diary No(s). 12749/2025 (XVI)
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IA No. 164101/2025 - CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION
IA No. 85261/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING
IA No. 85262/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 164103/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
SLP(C) No. 16838/2025 (XIV)
IA No. 146998/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED
JUDGMENT
IA No. 147198/2025 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT Date : 18-11-2025 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DIPANKAR DATTA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH For Petitioner(s) :Ms. Anwesha Saha, AOR Mr. Jaswant Singh Rawat, AOR Mrs. N. Kavitha Rameshwar, Adv. Mr. A. Rajarajan, Adv.
Mrs. L. Vasuki Rajarajan, Adv. Mr. R. Ramachandran, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR Mr. Aditya Ranjan, AOR Mr. Koushik Gole, Adv.
Mr. Akash Tomar, Adv.
Mr. Gauranga Kumar Das, Adv. Mr. Sukesh Ghosh, Adv.
Mr. Chand Qureshi, AOR Mr. Prakash Verma, Adv. Mr. Mohd Adil Mansoori, Adv. Mrs. Jyoti Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Shekhawat, Adv. Ms. Sanjivani Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Permananad Singh, Adv. Mr. Ambuj Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rajiv R. Mishra, Adv. Ms. Suruchi Yadav, Adv. Mr. Ashutosh Yadav, AOR Ms. Deeplaxmi Subhash Matwankar, AOR Mr. Gautam Das, AOR Mr. P.S Patwalia, Sr. Adv. Mr. Satyajeet Kumar, AOR Mr. Gopal Shakarnarayan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prashant Shukla, Adv. Mr. Suyash Srivastava, Adv.
4Mr. Abhishek Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Giridhar Upadhayay, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv.
For Respondent(s) :Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, Adv. Ms. Vimla Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Rukhmini Bobde, Adv.
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, Adv. Ms. Vimla Sinha, Adv.
Ms. Rukhmini Bobde, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Preeti Rani, Adv.
Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR Mr. Amit Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Raizada, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv.
Mr. Rana Mukherjee, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ankit Goel, AOR Mr. Abhi Garg, Adv.
Mr. Mayank Tiwari, Adv.
Mr. Anand Grover, Sr. Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Ms. Shraddha Chirania, Adv.
Mr. Krishna Murari, Adv. Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR Ms. Rukmini Bobde, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Mrs. Devyani Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Neha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vikrant Narayan Vasudeva, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Rohit Lochav, Adv.
5Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Adv. Ms. Yachna Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv.
Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dwivedi, Standing Counsel, Ms. Pragya Baghel, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Sharma, Adv. Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Beenu Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Venkat Narayan, Adv.
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Ms. Jyotika Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Yatharth Kansal, Adv.
Mr. Jaswant Singh Rawat, AOR Ms. Taruna Ardhendumauli Prasad, AOR Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR Ms. Tara Elizabeth Kurien, Adv. Mr. D.p.singh, Adv.
Mr. Subhash Chandran K.r, AOR Ms. Krishna L R, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh K P, Adv.
Mr. Bineesh K, Adv.
Mr. Jitendra Mohan Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akshat Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amrit Pradhan, Adv. Mr. Shrey Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Ajit Sharma, AOR Mr. Amit Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Raizada, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Krishnan, AOR 6 Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Arjun D. Singh, Adv. Ms. Ishika Neogi, Adv.
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mrs. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Verma, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Ms. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Mukul Singh, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Shaveer Ahmed, AOR Mr. Keshav Kant Sharma, Adv. Mr. Chetan Garg, Adv.
Mr. Riwaj Rai, Adv.
Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Mr. Manoj C. Mishra, AOR Ms. Kunika, AOR Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Mr. P.V. Dinesh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Mr. Santhosh K, Adv.
Mrs. Devika A.l., Adv.
Ms. Anna Oommen, Adv.
Mr. Akshat Kumar, AOR Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR Mr. Somkeerti V Singhdeo, Adv. Mr. Sidharth Nahar, Adv.
Mr. Satish Pandey, AOR 7 Ms. Harendra Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Meghraj Singh, Adv. Mrs. Smriti Kumari, Adv. Mr. Akbar Ali, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Bankura, Adv. Ms. Sadiya Shakeel, Adv. Mr. Sudhanshu Tiwari, Adv.
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mrs. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Verma, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Ms. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Mukul Singh, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Biju P Raman, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. P.S. Negi, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Bansal, Adv.
Mr. T.k. Nayak, Adv.
Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Adv.
Mr. Piyush Dwivedi, AOR Ms. Diksha Verma, Adv.
Mr. Shireesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Deepak Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Braj Kishore Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Rukmini Bobde, Adv. Ms. Rukmani Bobde, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Mrs. Devyani Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Neha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Omkar Deshpande, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv.
8Mr. Anand Grover, Sr. Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Ms. Shraddha Chirania, Adv.
Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv.
Mr. Gaj Singh, Adv.
Mr. Aman Dev Sharma, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Raman Singh, Adv. Mr. Pushkar Sharma, Adv. Dr. Sukhdev Sharma, Adv. Ms. Shubhangi Nasa, Adv.
Mr. Ravindra Sadanand Chingale, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Anil Shrivastav, A.A.G. Ms. Eliza Barr, Adv.
Ms. Disha Singh, AOR Mr. Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, AOR Mr. D. Mahesh Babu, AOR Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR Mr. Mukesh Kumar, AOR Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR M/S. Venkat Palwai Law Associates, AOR Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dwivedi, Standing Counsel, Ms. Pragya Baghel, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Sharma, Adv. Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Beenu Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Venkat Narayan, Adv.
Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Ms. Drishti Rawal, Adv. Mr. Abhay Nair, Adv.
Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Mayur Goyal, Adv.
Mr. Daya Krishan Sharma, AOR Mr. D K Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Rohit Vats, Adv.
Mr. Yashdeep, Adv.
Mr. Gaurav, Adv.
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Deepak Singh, Adv.
Ms. Priyal Sheth, Adv.
9Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Ms. Patil Rekha Chandra Gouda, AOR Mr. Jadhav Vishal, Adv.
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv.
Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv.
Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, AOR Mr. Bhagwant Deshpande, Adv. Ms. Subhi Pastor, Adv.
Mr. Sarthak Mehrotra, Adv.
Mr. Piyush Hans, Deputy A.G. Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, AOR Ms. Saakshi Singh Rawat, Adv.
Mr. Anand Nandan, Adv.
Mr. Kuldeep Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aashna Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv.
Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv.
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, Adv. Ms. Vimla Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Rukhmini Bobde, Adv.
Mr. V. Chitambaresh, Sr. Adv. Ms. Dhanya Ashokan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Lakshmeesh S. Kamath, AOR Mrs. Samriti Ahuja, Adv. Ms. Aditi Prakash, Adv. Mr. C. Govind Venugopal, Adv. Mr. E. Krishna Perumal, Adv.
Mr. Sudhir Naagar, AOR Mr. Manohar Naagar, Adv. Mr. Ravinder Singh, Adv. Mr. Mohit Singh, Adv.
Mr. Sidharth Khatana, Adv.
10Mr. Kunal Chaudhary, Adv.
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. D. L. Chidananda, AOR Mr. Kaustubh Shukla, AOR Ms. Pushpanjali Singh, Adv. Ms. Gursimrat Kaur, Adv.
Mr. Paresh Upadhyay, Adv. Mr. Manoj K. Mishra, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Vyas, Adv.
Mr. Umesh Dubey, Adv.
Ms. Madhulika, Adv.
Mr. Anand Kumar Rai, Adv. Mr. Radeesh Kumar Mt, Adv. Mr. Amulya Dev Mishra, Adv. Mr. Hardeep, Adv.
Mr. Anand Shankar, AOR Mr. Pradhuman Gohil, Adv. Mrs. Taruna Singh Gohil, AOR Mr. Alapati Sahithya Krishna, Adv. Ms. Hetvi Ketan Patel, Adv. Mr. Rushabh N. Kapadia, Adv. Ms. Taniya Bansal, Adv. Ms. Kawal Preet, Adv.
Mr. Pulkit Khanduja, Adv.
Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv.
Mr. Gaj Singh, Adv.
Mr. Aman Dev Sharma, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Raman Singh, Adv. Mr. Pushkar Sharma, Adv. Dr. Sukhdev Sharma, Adv. Ms. Shubhangi Nasa, Adv.
Mr. Balaji Subramanian, A.A.G. Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR Ms. Jahnavi Taneja, Adv. Ms. Aashigaa Pravaagini, Adv. Mr. Akash Kundu, Adv.
Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv. Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv.
11UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R
1. In terms of our earlier order, we are considering the progress made by the State of Uttar Pradesh1 today. Our attention has been invited to two affidavits dated 7th September, 2025 and 16th November, 2025 filed on behalf of the SoUP.
2. We find from one such affidavit that the Teacher Eligibility Test 2 has been prescribed by the SoUP as a requisite qualification for teachers 3 to be appointed to cater to the needs of Children with Special Needs4.
3. Number of orders have been passed from time to time by this Court with regard to appointment of Special Educators. Previously, it has never been brought to this Court’s notice that the TET is also a requisite qualification for appointment of Special Educators for the CwSN. If, indeed, the TET is a mandatory qualification, the same has to be applied across the country for all candidates aspiring for appointment as Special Educators.
4. We have requested Ms. Rukhmini Bobde, learned counsel appearing for the Union of India, to obtain instructions in this behalf.
5. Mr. Rana Mukherjee, learned senior counsel appearing for the SoUP may also apprise us the relevant law based whereon the requirement of the candidates being TET qualified was specified in the notification dated 6 th September, 2025, which forms part of the affidavit dated 7th September, 2025.
6. We propose to hear the Union of India, the SoUP, the other States and the aspirants on the aforesaid vital issue on 25th November, 2025 at 03:30 p.m.
7. Mr. Mukherjee shall also obtain instructions as to why a cut-off date (the 1 SoUP 2 TET 3 Special Educators 4 CwSN 12 date of filing of the writ petition by Rajneesh Kumar Pandey) has been fixed for the purpose of considering appointment of candidates appointed on daily basis / contractual basis.
8. Notwithstanding the pendency of these matters, the processes which have been initiated shall continue.
9. Insofar as the States of West Bengal, Odisha and Delhi are concerned, we propose to hear the learned Amicus Curiae and learned counsel appearing for such States immediately after the parties are heard on the issue whether the TET qualification is mandatory for Special Educators.
(JATINDER KAUR) (SUDHIR KUMAR SHARMA) P.S. to REGISTRAR COURT MASTER (NSH)