No Finding That Drop In Marks Was Due To Him: Rajasthan HC Quashes Censure Against Chemistry Teacher For School's Poor 12th Board Result
The Rajasthan High Court set aside the penalty of censure imposed on a school teacher in relation to a charge that the12th Board Exam result in Chemistry of the concerned school remained below the standard fixed by the Department of Education.Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand observed that "there was no allegation that the result of the concerned school dropped due to commission or omission on part...
The Rajasthan High Court set aside the penalty of censure imposed on a school teacher in relation to a charge that the12th Board Exam result in Chemistry of the concerned school remained below the standard fixed by the Department of Education.
Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand observed that "there was no allegation that the result of the concerned school dropped due to commission or omission on part of the petitioner" in which case, he could not have been penalized under Rule 17 of the Rajasthan Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1958 (“the Rules”).
"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 Rules of 1958," it said.
It was the case of the petitioner teacher that there was no action or inaction on his part that led to a drop in the result. There were several reasons for the poor result in which light, the order imposing penalty on him was unsustainable in the eyes of law.
On the contrary, it was argued on behalf of the State that the result remained below the prescribed standard due to slackness and carelessness of the petitioner.
After hearing the contentions, the Court referred to the coordinate bench decision in the case of Dharamveer v State of Rajasthan and Ors. in which the following ruling was given on identical set of facts,
“It is well settled that to constitute misconduct in a service, there must be commission or omission of some act on the part of the employee. Beside this, charge should be specific and must be without any ambiguity. The allegation of misconduct must be based on specific acts, deeds or omission of the employee. In absence of it, the charge shall be vague. The charge levelled against the petitioner is not at all specific, as such the same is vague.”
In this background, the Court set aside the penalty, by quashing the order.
Case Title: Rajesh Kumar v State of Rajasthan & Ors.
Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 126