In Brief
The Supreme Court dismissed civil appeals challenging teacher recruitment schemes (PAT, Para Teachers, and Gram Vidya Upasak) introduced by Himachal Pradesh in 2001–2003 to fill vacancies in remote areas. The appellants argued these schemes violated recruitment rules and allowed unqualified teachers. The Court held that such policy-based appointments, made without contemporaneous challenge and justified by the State's need to meet Compulsory Primary Education Act objectives in difficult terrain, could not be rendered illegal merely for non-conformity with regular rules. The writ petitions, filed 10+ years later by candidates who did not even qualify at the time, lacked merit on laches grounds. With appointees having 15+ years service and acquired qualifications, regularization was justified.
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