Teachers Can Be Deployed As BLOs for election-related work, the Allahabad High Court has held, because Section 27 of the Right to Education Act itself carves out an exception for election duties.
Prayagraj: Five Assistant Teachers of Junior and Senior Basic Schools in District Saharanpur, who wanted to be detached from their duties as Booth Level Officers (BLOs), have lost their writ petition in the Allahabad High Court, which held that teachers can lawfully be deployed for the preparation and revision of electoral rolls [Azra Parveen And 4 Others v. State Of U.P. And 3 Others].
Justice Vinod Diwakar, sitting as a single-judge bench, passed the order on November 2, 2026, after hearing counsel for the petitioners and the Standing Counsel for the State.
Where the RTE Act draws its line
On the Right to Education argument, the Court held that the 2009 Act itself permits teachers to be used for election work:
“Section 27 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 expressly permits the deployment of teachers for election-related duties, and BLO duties fall within this exception. The submission based on Article 21-A and the RTE Rules is, therefore, misconceived.”
What the petitioners wanted
Working as Assistant Teachers in basic schools in Saharanpur, the petitioners asked the High Court to direct the authorities to relieve them of BLO duties and not to interfere with their work as teachers.
Their counsel argued that nothing in their terms and conditions of service allowed them to be assigned BLO work. He submitted that such an assignment ran contrary to Article 21-A of the Constitution, read with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and the Rules framed under it, because it diverted teachers from their core duty of teaching. The petitioners also relied on a letter dated September 3, 2012, and raised certain other grounds.
Electoral rolls as a statutory function
Before reaching the RTE point, the Court noted that electoral roll work is a statutory function backed by the Constitution. It observed:
“The preparation and revision of electoral rolls is a statutory function under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Article 324 of the Constitution vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission of India.”
Under Section 13CC of the 1950 Act, it pointed out, officers and staff of the State Government and local authorities engaged in preparing, revising and correcting electoral rolls are deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission for that period.
Nor had the petitioners shown any actual harm to their teaching, the Court added:
“In any event, the petitioners have not shown that their assignment as BLOs has prejudiced their teaching duties or the education of the children.”
The outcome
Finding no ground to interfere in its writ jurisdiction, the Court dismissed the petition.
Why the order matters
The order confirms a settled position: Section 27 of the RTE Act bars deploying teachers for non-educational work, but it expressly excludes the decennial census, disaster relief and election duties, including work on electoral rolls. A plea that BLO work violates the right to education under Article 21-A therefore cannot succeed on that ground alone.
The ruling also signals that teachers challenging BLO assignments will need to show concrete prejudice to classroom teaching or to students, rather than relying only on service conditions. With electoral roll revision work under way in several States, the order is likely to guide similar petitions by teachers in Uttar Pradesh.
Case Title: Azra Parveen And 4 Others v. State Of U.P. And 3 Others [WRIT-A No. 18007 of 2026]
Bench: Justice Vinod Diwakar, Allahabad High Court
Date of Order: November 2, 2026
Counsel for Petitioners: Narendra Kumar, Shobhit Singh
Counsel for Respondents: Chief Standing Counsel, Jay Prakash Singh
