The Rajasthan High Court has overturned the termination of a junior assistant (Clerk Grade-II) by a district education officer. The court found that the dismissal was based on allegations not included in the original charge sheet or inquiry report.
The case involved a petitioner accused of two charges: being absent without sanctioned leave and failing to disclose an arrest related to charges of cheating under Sections 419 and 420 of the IPC. Following an inquiry, the petitioner was dismissed from service.
The dismissal order, however, cited the petitioner’s alleged involvement as a dummy candidate in the RPF SI Recruitment 2018. This accusation did not feature in the charge sheet or the inquiry report. The petitioner challenged the termination, arguing that it was based on assumptions and lacked legal grounding.
The government defended the termination, claiming the disciplinary authority had considered all relevant facts. It described the reference to the dummy candidate allegation as an inadvertent error.
The court, presided over by Justice Dinesh Mehta, observed that the disciplinary authority acted on an unsupported assumption. Since the charge of appearing as a dummy candidate was neither mentioned in the charge sheet nor the inquiry report, the court ruled the termination invalid.
The court set aside the dismissal order and instructed the authority to re-evaluate the case based on the evidence on record. Until a fresh decision is made, the petitioner will be considered in service.
