SC issues notice on 10% quote for EWS in CTET

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice on a plea seeking 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in the 2019 Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET).

The notice has been issued to the Centre, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the National Council for Teachers, who have asked to file their response by July 1, the next date of hearing.

The CTET is a central government examination conducted by the CBSE which allocates scores to aspiring teachers.

The petition claimed that the advertisement issued by the Human Resource and Development Ministry for the CTET on January 23 was "wholly illegal and arbitrary in manner", as it did not include the 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections, as mandated by the Constitution.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna admitted the petition filed by Rajneesh Kumar Pandey and set July 1 as the next date of hearing.

On May 13, the apex court had said that reservation policy can be applicable at the time of final selection, but not at the qualifying stage of the examination.

The petitioner's counsel argued that during the course of the examination, the validity of the constitutional right, which had been given for the upliftment of the economically weaker sections, was applicable.

The counsel argued before the court that other reserved categories like SCs/STs and OBCs have been allocated the benefit of relaxation in marks.

The counsel contended before the court that it should issue directions to the government and the Ministry of Human Resource Development to fulfil their duty to implement the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019, which granted 10 per cent reservation to candidates from the economically weaker sections who appear for the CTET 2019.