'You can do whatever you want?': Delhi HC questions EC over mandatory election duty for school teachers

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the Election Commission’s response to a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the “en masse requisition” of government school teachers as booth level officers (BLOs) and enumeration staff for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi, according to a report by PTI.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the Election Commission (EC) to file a short affidavit clarifying its stand. The court also questioned whether the Commission could make it mandatory for government school teachers to serve as BLOs and enumeration staff.

Appearing for the EC, the Commission’s counsel said the SIR was a pan-India exercise and that government school teachers were required to work only during non-teaching hours or holidays.

He added that teachers receive compensation and an honorarium, and that “only 10-14 per cent are eventually called upon” for the SIR process.

“If a request is made for nine teachers, the school deploys only 3-4. I don’t have a problem with four teachers showing up,” the EC’s lawyer said, adding that the Commission takes a “liberal” view in such matters.

The bench observed that it would dispose of the PIL if the EC made it clear that participation by teachers was voluntary and not mandatory.

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“Can they be said to be mandatory? Somebody is not interested in your honorarium or compensation. They need rest. It should be voluntary. Taking shade of Article 324 (of the Constitution), you can do whatever you want?” the bench orally remarked.

“If you are calling them volunteers, make that statement. We will dispose it of,” the court said. It also observed that teachers were not employees of the Election Commission, while noting that refusal to comply with the Commission’s directions could attract penal consequences.

The court directed the EC to file a “short affidavit” by Monday and listed the matter for hearing on July 28.

The PIL, filed by advocates Rajesh Kumar Gogna and Ashok Agarwal, said it had been moved in public interest to protect the fundamental rights under Articles 14, 21 and 21A of lakhs of children studying in government, municipal and government-aided schools in Delhi.

According to the petitioners, teachers from these schools have been deployed for the SIR exercise, affecting classroom teaching. The PIL claimed that in several schools, the entire regular teaching staff had been withdrawn during teaching hours, forcing classes to be taken by guest teachers or teachers from unrelated subjects.

“The deployment is contrary to the law declared in Election Commission of India v. St. Mary’s School, violates section 27 read with Sections 25-26 of the RTE Act, 2009, and ignores the vast pool of non-teaching staff of the authorities amenable to requisition under Section 159 of the Representation of the People Act,” the petition said.

The PIL sought directions to the authorities to rationalise the deployment of school teachers by capping it at 10 per cent and scheduling their election duties outside teaching hours. It also urged the authorities to first utilise available non-teaching staff for the SIR process.