My service is terminated without giving me notice for the lack of equivalent degree i.e., B.Ed. I am working as a middle school teacher in the basic education department of Bihar. After ten years of service, I am terminated for the want of B.Ed. degree however I have completed XXX which is equivalent to the bachelor in education. In this situation I am very frustrated and having no other option to institute a suit against the government. Please suggest.
To establish that your degree is equivalent to a Bachelor in Education, you will need to provide evidence from your institute demonstrating that they have obtained authorization or permission from the relevant authority to offer the course you completed. It is a legal requirement that institutions have proper affiliation or authorization before admitting students to a particular course.
You should gather relevant documents from your institute to support your claim. However, it’s important to note that the court cannot make a determination on whether a particular degree is equivalent to another degree. The legal position is well-established that judicial review does not extend to expanding the scope of prescribed qualifications or determining equivalence of qualifications.
In the case of Zahoor Ahmad Rather v. Sheikh Imtiyaz Ahmad (2019) 2 SCC 404; the Hon’ble Supreme Court upheld that the question of whether a qualification should be considered equivalent or not is within the purview of the recruiting authority and not something that can be decided by the Court in its exercise of judicial review.
So far as your termination is concerned, it has been done without affording you an opportunity of hearing. According to the principle of natural justice, the authority is bound to afford an opportunity of hearing before taking any action the employee. There should have been a departmental inquiry setup by an appropriate authority against you before passing termination order.
Your termination without being given an opportunity of hearing violates a fundamental principle of natural justice. Therefore, you may consider filing a writ petition in the high court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. In your petition, you can seek the quashing of the termination order.
The case of Avatar Singh v. Union of India (2016) 8 SCC 471, established that a departmental inquiry is necessary before terminating a confirmed employee for suppression or submission of false information in the verification form. Therefore, you can cite this case in your petition to support your argument that your termination was unlawful. A writ petition may provide you with an opportunity to seek relief from the court and potentially reverse your termination.
