Rajasthan HC Quashes Censure Order Against Govt School Teacher For Substandard Class 8 Results, Finds No Specific Allegation Against Him
Granting relief to a government school teacher, the Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan High Court set aside an order of censure passed against him over the result of Class 8 Board Examination in the concerned school being below the standard set by Department of Education.
For context, an Order of Censure is a formal act by the government to communicate that a public servant has been guilty of some misconduct due to some blameworthy act or omission and thus was awarded a formal punishment.
Referring to decisions of the high court on the issue, a single judge bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand noted that in the instant case there was no allegation that the result of the concerned school was lowered down "due to commission or omission" on the part of the petitioner teacher.
"The result remained below the norms fixed by the Department of Education, may be for several reasons and without arriving at a finding that the result came down due to commission or omission on the part of the petitioner, the petitioner could not have been penalized under Rule 17 of the (Rajasthan Civil Services Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules of 1958. Hence, the impugned order dated 30.11.2017, passed by the respondents, is not tenable in the eye of law and the same is liable to be quashed and set aside and is hereby quashed and set aside," the court said.
The Petitioner was a primary school teacher who was served with a charge-sheet under the 1958 Rules alleging that the result of the Class 8 Board Examination was below the standard prescribed by the Education Department–below 40%, due to his "slackness and carelessness". This finding was recorded as a "misconduct" against the petitioner and as a penalty the censure order was passed.
The counsel for the petitioner argued that unexpected result could not be a reason for issuing charge-sheet and punishing the Petitioner.
The high court referred to a coordinate bench's decision in Dharamveer v State of Rajasthan and Ors. (having almost identical facts) which had held that to "constitute misconduct in a service, there must be commission or omission of some act on the part of the employee" and the charge should be "specific and must be without any ambiguity".
Allowing the teacher's plea, the high court set aside the censure order.
Case Title: Azhar Javed v State of Rajasthan & Ors.
Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 259