Rajasthan HC quashes reprimand against government school teacher for below-average grades in Class 8, but finds no specific charges against him

The Rajasthan High Court in Jaipur awarded compensation to a public school teacher and quashed a censure notice passed against him because the result of the eighth grade final examination of the school in question was below the standard set by the Ministry of Education.

For context: A vote of no confidence is a formal act of government communicating that an official has been guilty of misconduct due to a reprehensible act or omission and has therefore received a formal punishment.

Referring to Supreme Court decisions on this issue, a single-judge bench Judge Anoop Kumar Dhand noted that in In the present case, there was no allegation that the academic performance of the school in question had deteriorated ‘as a result of any acts or omissions’ on the part of the complaining teacher.

“The result fell below the norms laid down by the Ministry of Education, which may be due to a number of reasons, and without it being possible to establish that the result was due to any act or omission of the applicant, the applicant could not be considered as eligible under Rule 17 of the (Classification, Control and Appointment of Civil Service in Rajasthan) Rules of 1958. Therefore, the impugned order dated 30.11.2017 passed by the respondents is not maintainable in the eyes of law and is liable to be set aside and is hereby set aside and,” the court said.

The complainant was a primary school teacher who was served with a charge sheet under the 1958 Rules alleging that the Class 8 result The examination results were below the standard prescribed by the Ministry of Education – less than 40% – due to his “carelessness and negligence”. This finding was recorded as “misconduct” on the part of the plaintiff and a reprimand was imposed as punishment.

The applicant’s lawyer argued that an unexpected result could not be a reason for filing an indictment and punishing the applicant.

The High Court referred to the decision of a coordination committee in Dharamveer v. State of Rajasthan and others. (with almost identical facts) which is for “To constitute misconduct in service, there must be an act or omission on the part of the employee. and the load should “specific and must be unambiguous”.

The Supreme Court granted the teacher’s application and overturned the reprimand.

Case title: Azhar Javed v. State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Quote: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 259

Click here to read/download the order