Justice Biswajit Basu of Calcutta High Court has struck down a petition seeking age relaxation for participating in the recruitment process for primary teacher jobs in government-aided schools.
The petitioners argued that when the state primary education board published the recruitment notification for teachers’ eligibility test (TET) held in December 2022 in September 2025, many candidates had crossed the age limit for participating in the interview process.
The board published the results of TET-2022 in February 2023. The recruitment notification was, however, issued on September 26, 2025.
A candidate has to be aged between 18 and 40 years to be able to take part in the interview, aptitude test and other forms of screening, say the recruitment rules set by the board.
The lawyers representing the petitioners, led by Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, demanded relaxation for candidates who crossed the age limit because of the board’s delay.
The court struck down the petition after the board’s lawyers told the court that the age norm was the law of the land and it had to be complied with, and that TET was just one of the eligibility criteria.
TET is held to shortlist candidates for the appointment of teachers for government-aided primary schools (Classes I to V).
A lawyer who represented the petitioners said they cited an order of former judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay (now a BJP MP from Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency) who offered the age relief to those who wrote TET in January 2021 following a notification in 2017.
“The board also complied with Justice Gangopadhyay’s order. We cited the precedent. But Justice Basu did not agree with the order of the former judge,” the lawyer said.
The state primary board had appointed 10,000-odd teachers last year from among those who qualified for the TET held in 2021.
One of the lawyers representing the board, Ratul Biswas, said the recruitment rules specifically state that as the board published the recruitment notification in September this year, one has to be aged between 18 and 40 years as on January 1, 2025 (for the general category) to be able to take part in the recruitment process.
For reserved category candidates, the age limit extends up to 45 years.
“Besides, it has to be borne in mind that TET is just one eligibility criteria. Qualifying TET does not guarantee an appointment, as there are other layers of screening. So the court struck down the petition,” said Biswas.
In its September 26 recruitment notification, the board said that TET-qualified candidates with an overall aggregate of at least 50 per cent will be eligible for
selection.
Selection parameters will include performance in the written test, marks in Madhyamik or equivalent, marks in higher secondary or equivalent, diploma in elementary education, extra-curricular activities and interview performance.
On Monday, the board told Calcutta High Court that an expert committee appointed by the court had not found any erroneous question in the TET-2022 question paper.
Delivering his order based on the committee’s report, Justice Biswajit Basu on Monday criticised the petitioners and their lawyers for “wasting the court’s time” and attempting to “disrupt” the recruitment process by repeatedly “lodging false cases”.