Petition Filed in MAT Against Maharashtra Govt’s Appointment of IAS Officers to Top Education Posts

Pune, 24th November 2025: A fresh dispute has emerged in Maharashtra’s Education Department as senior officers have moved the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) challenging the state government’s recent practice of appointing IAS officers to head key educational institutions. The petition, which questions the legality of these appointments, has been admitted by MAT and will be heard shortly.

For decades, leadership roles in major education bodies, including the Directorate of Education, SCERT, the State Examination Council, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Balbharti, the Planning Directorate, and the directorates overseeing primary, secondary and higher secondary education, have traditionally been filled through promotions from the State Education Service. Only the Education Commissioner and positions within the Maharashtra Primary Education Council fall outside this promotional structure.

However, over the past year, the government has appointed IAS officers to several top posts. The most contentious move was the appointment of an IAS officer as chairperson of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, the first such instance in the board’s history. Earlier, IAS officers were placed in charge of the State Examination Council and SCERT as well.

Officers from the Education Service argue that these decisions directly undermine their career progression. In the petition, they claim that service rules explicitly reserve the posts of director and chairperson in autonomous education bodies for departmental officers. “Promotions have been delayed for years. Bringing IAS officers into these positions shuts down legitimate promotion avenues and disturbs the established seniority framework,” the petitioner stated.

Internal appointments in the Education Department have triggered legal challenges in the past as well. Two years ago, a similar controversy erupted when the state deputed Revenue Department officials as Divisional Deputy Directors in the Education Department. MAT had intervened in that case too, ordering a stay on such deputation-based postings.

With the current petition now before MAT, the tribunal’s upcoming hearing will determine whether the state government can continue assigning IAS officers to leadership roles across autonomous education institutions, a decision that could reshape administrative control within Maharashtra’s education sector.