DSC 2008: Telangana High Court upheld 30% reservation for D.Ed. candidates

The Telangana High Court has dismissed a series of writ petitions challenging the state government’s decision to reserve 30% secondary teacher posts for candidates with Diploma in Education (D.Ed) in 2009, days after the notification was issued, stating that the “notification calling for applications is not the finish line set in stone”.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao, who pronounced the verdict, said “the law does not require the State to freeze its wisdom at the time of first notice”. On 6 December 2008, the then government of the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh issued a notification to fill 52,655 teaching posts across the state through District Selection Committees (DSCs).

Almost a month later, the government issued an order (GO Ms. No. 161) which reserved 30% posts exclusively for D.Ed. qualification holders. The written test was held on 29 and 30 May 2009, while the results were declared on 30 June. Some candidates who could not be selected for these seats moved the AP Administrative Tribunal challenging the government’s decision to reserve 30% seats for D.Ed. qualification holders.

They argued that the reservation was illegal and arbitrary as it was announced after the “selection process” was initiated. The tribunal rejected their pleas. A number of court applications were filed challenging the tribunal’s order. A Division Bench headed by Acting CJ, which held that it did not find “any defect in the order”, said that the 30% reservation was “an adjustment made on the threshold of the DSC-2008 selection process”. “It was not a change in the rules of the game after the race had started,” the verdict said.

The State cannot be denied its ordinary prerogative to perfect its own design, the Bench said. However, such changes should be made openly and the government must ensure that its action does not take away in a secret way or additionally what it had previously promised to the complainants, the judgment said.

Published – 17 Oct 2026 20:49 IST