The Allahabad High Court ordered the STF to verify every basic school teacher's credentials across Uttar Pradesh. The statewide scrutiny follows evidence of forged records and multiple appointments using identical certificates.
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Prayagraj,Oct 19, 2026 22:50 IST
The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) to verify the educational certificates of all teachers working in the state's basic schools, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The direction came after the court took note of cases in which several teachers had allegedly secured jobs using forged documents or the educational certificates of other people. In some instances, 10 or more people were appointed using a single set of certificates.
All teachers of Classes 1 to 8 in Uttar Pradesh's basic schools have been asked to submit clear copies of their appointment letters and educational documents to the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) concerned within a week. The BSAs will then send the documents to the respective STF range offices.
Justice Vinod Diwakar also asked the STF to develop a system to verify the documents, if necessary, with the assistance of the senior superintendent of police or police commissioner concerned.
The court further directed all teachers to file notarised affidavits giving details of immediate relatives, serving or retired, who have held posts at the level of BSA or above in the Uttar Pradesh education department.
The state director of education will supervise the exercise undertaken by the BSAs and may appoint an officer for its day-to-day supervision. Similarly, the additional director general of police, STF, will oversee the verification and investigation and may nominate an officer for daily supervision.
In its October 16 order, the court warned that any laxity or dereliction of duty by the officers named in the order would be viewed seriously and that the officer concerned could be held personally accountable.
The court directed that the case be listed again on November 4 to review compliance and consider the matter further.
Issuing the directions, the court observed, "It is a matter of common knowledge that a large number of primary schools have been closed down principally on account of a shortfall in the number of students."
"That shortfall is not attributable to a want of resources but to the deteriorating quality of the education imparted and to the inadequate performance of the teachers," it added.
The directions were passed during the hearing of a petition filed by a teacher, Kusumlata. Following an earlier court direction, the additional superintendent of police, STF, Lucknow, submitted a report stating that the petitioner had fraudulently secured employment using the educational documents of Kusumlata Srivastava, who was already working as an assistant teacher in Gorakhpur, PTI reported.
The STF investigation also found that many teachers across the state had allegedly secured employment using forged documents or documents belonging to other people. In several cases, 10 or more people were found to have obtained jobs using a single set of educational documents.
The High Court has now ordered a statewide verification of teachers' appointment and educational records under the supervision of senior education and STF officials, with compliance to be reviewed on November 4.
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