Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has sought clarification from the state government on the applicability of OTET for promotion of teachers appointed before September 3, 2001, while restraining further promotion proceedings in Dhanakauda block of Sambalpur district. A division bench of Justice RK Pattnaik issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Babrubahan Bhoi, a Level-4 trained graduate teacher at Nirgundapada Government Upper Primary School in Sambalpur district.
The court directed the Sambalpur District Education Officer (DEO) and the Dhanakauda Block Education Officer not to proceed further with the promotion of Level-4 teachers to Level-3 Senior Headmaster posts on the basis of the final gradation list and the approval order issued by the Director of Elementary Education September 3, pending further orders. The matter has been posted for final hearing November 9. Bhoi, who was placed 77th in the gradation list, was excluded from the final promotion list for allegedly not having cleared the Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET). He challenged the Sambalpur DEO’s decision and the directive of the Director of Elementary Education before the High Court. The petitioner contended that the OTET qualification requirement should not apply to teachers appointed before September 3, 2001.
Relying on the Supreme Court’s judgment in UP vs Ishat-e-Taleem Trust, he argued that teachers appointed before the cut-off date are not required to qualify the eligibility test. The petitioner’s counsels- Dr Purushottam Chuli and Preeti Punyatoya- also drew the court’s attention to a Bombay High Court judgment delivered July 9, 2026, in support of the contention. The High Court further directed the state government to specifically clarify whether the OTET qualification requirement applies to teachers appointed before September 3, 2001.
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