The Rajasthan High Court has ruled in favor of the reinstatement of hostel-mess workers of Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan Vidyashram school, operated by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan educational trust. These employees were terminated without following the legal procedure, and the court clarified that the closure of the hostel mess due to COVID-19 did not equate to the abolition of their posts.
Read Also: Rajasthan High Court Allows Accused In Multiple Cases To Attend Trial Via Video Conferencing
The court emphasized the necessity of adhering to Section 18 of the Rajasthan Non-Government Educational Institutions Act, 1989. According to this section, the termination of an employee from a recognized institution must be carried out only after a departmental inquiry and with prior approval from the Director of Education. Since this procedure was not followed, the termination was deemed unlawful.
However, the court clarified that reinstatement would not automatically entitle the workers to receive 50% back wages, as they had claimed. The court noted that the employees failed to provide evidence proving that they remained unemployed during their termination period.
Key Observations of the Court:
Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand stated:
"A review of the petitioner management's proceedings shows no indication that the respondent’s post was abolished. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent departure of students from the hostel, the management decided to close the hostel mess and relieved the staff. However, this decision does not constitute the abolition of the respondent’s post."
Further, Justice Dhand observed that the appointment orders indicated that the respondents were originally employed as Class-IV staff in the school, not specifically in the hostel mess. Thus, their termination amounted to dismissal from their original positions without following the required legal procedures under Section 18 of the Act of 1989 and Rule 39 of the Rules of 1993.
Read Also: Rajasthan High Court Directs Appointment of ASHA Worker, Stresses Eligibility Check at Threshold
"The order dated 08.03.2021 does not state that the post was abolished. Instead, it appears that the school management sought to remove the respondents from service. Such an order constitutes dismissal, and since the mandatory provisions were not followed, it stands unlawful."
The court also ruled that reinstatement does not necessarily mean that employees are entitled to back wages.
"Although the respondents claim that they were ready to work but were not allowed to do so, they have failed to provide evidence of unemployment during the termination period. Consequently, they are not eligible for 50% back wages. The principle of 'No work, no pay' applies in this case."
The tribunal’s decision to award back wages was deemed legally untenable and was subsequently overturned. However, the employees were granted continuity in service and all consequential benefits from their reinstatement date.
Background of the Case:
The case involved multiple petitions filed by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan school management against the Rajasthan Non-Government Educational Institutions Tribunal’s ruling, which had overturned the termination order of one of the school’s employees.
The petitioner argued that the respondent was engaged as a Class-IV employee in the hostel mess and that when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, a management decision was made to close the mess. The school claimed that the post was abolished, leading to the discontinuation of the workers' services, and that Section 18 was not applicable since the respondent’s termination was due to the discontinuation of the post rather than dismissal.
However, the High Court rejected this argument, citing Supreme Court precedents from Raj Kumar v. Director of Education and Gajanand Sharma v. Adarsh Shiksha Parishad Samiti & Others. The court reaffirmed that the termination or removal of an employee from a recognized institution requires prior departmental proceedings and approval from the Director of Education, which had not been obtained in this case.
Since no such approval was taken before issuing the termination order, the tribunal's decision to quash the termination was upheld by the High Court.
The Rajasthan High Court directed the school management to reinstate the terminated employees, ensuring their continuity in service. However, the employees were not granted back wages for the period of their termination. Instead, they were awarded actual monetary benefits from their date of reinstatement and all other consequential benefits as if their services had never been terminated.
This ruling reinforces the legal safeguards in place to prevent arbitrary termination of employees in recognized institutions and highlights the importance of following due process before issuing termination orders.
Case Title: Management Committee, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyashram & Anr.v Rameshwar Lal Meena & Anr., and other connected petitions
