Introduction:

The Rajasthan High Court in the case of Rajesh Kumar v State of Rajasthan & Ors., 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 126, set aside the penalty of censure imposed on a school teacher, Rajesh Kumar, about a charge that the 12th Board Exam result in Chemistry of the concerned school remained below the standard fixed by the Department of Education.

Arguments:

The petitioner contended that no action or inaction on his part had led to the decline, and various external factors could have contributed to the lower pass percentage. Conversely, the State argued that the poor results stemmed from the petitioner’s slackness and carelessness. The Court, referring to a coordinate bench ruling in Dharamveer v State of Rajasthan & Ors., emphasized that to constitute misconduct, there must be a definite act of commission or omission by the employee. It ruled that vague charges without specific allegations of misconduct could not stand. Therefore, the Court quashed the penalty imposed on Rajesh Kumar, reinforcing that disciplinary action must be based on clear and precise allegations of wrongdoing rather than generalized assumptions.

Judgement:

Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand observed that since there was no specific allegation that the drop in results was due to any act or omission by the petitioner, he could not have been penalized under Rule 17 of the Rajasthan Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1958. The Court held that the decline in results could have been due to several reasons and, without an explicit finding that the teacher’s conduct was responsible, the penalty could not be sustained.