(1) Govind Ram Khokhar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Others IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR : O R D E R : S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.6188/2006. (Govind Ram Khokhar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Others) DATE OF ORDER : August 21, 2008 P R E S E N T Hon'ble Mr. Justice Gopal Krishan Vyas _______________________________ Mr. M.R. Singhvi for the petitioner. Mr. B.L. Bhati, Counsel for the State. BY THE COURT : Heard learned counsel for the petitioner. The petitioner is admittedly employee of the Education Department and promoted as per recommendation of the Departmental Promotion Committee by the Director, Department of Education, Bikaner vide Annex.-1 dated 30.03.1993 on the post of Principal. He was served with charge-sheet Annex.-2 dated 23.05.2003 issued by the District Collector, Bhilwara under Rule 17 of the Rajasthan Civil Services (Classification, (2) Govind Ram Khokhar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Others Control & Appeal) Rules, 1958. The main contention of the petitioner is that he is employee of the Education Department but he was charge- sheeted by the District Collector, Bhilwara who has nothing to do with the administration of Education Department and the powers to take action against the Principal in the Education Department are vested in the authorities of the Education Department, therefore, the District Collector cannot exercise jurisdiction to issue the charge-sheet to the employee of the Education Department because the District Collector is not disciplinary authority as per Rajasthan Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1958. It is contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that charge-sheet was issued by the Collector but the final order of punishment has been passed by the Director, Education Department, Bikaner vide Annex.-4 and, that too, is not permissible under the law because before issuing any charge- sheet to the employee the Disciplinary Authority is required to apply its mind and further required to decide whether misconduct has been committed by the delinquent employee or not, therefore, when the charge-sheet itself is without jurisdiction , then all the consequential proceedings and orders (3) Govind Ram Khokhar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Others are void and deserve to be quashed, being contrary to the CCA Rules. On the other hand, learned Dy. Government Counsel for the State submits that although the petitioner is Principal in the Education Department but he was performing duties as Addl. District Education Officer-cum-Block Education Officer, therefore, the District Collector was well within his jurisdiction to issue charge-sheet to the petitioner and, therefore, the contention of the petitioner is baseless. It is further submitted that the petitioner was penalized with the penalty of censure by the Director, Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Bikaner who is competent authority as per CCA Rules, 1958 therefore even if it is presumed that the petitioner is an employee of the Education Department, then, too, the order has been passed by the competent authority. I have perused the entire facts of the case narrated in the writ petition as well as reply filed by the respondents and considered the arguments advanced before the Court. In this case, admittedly the charge-sheet was issued by the District Collector, Bhilwara and the District Collector himself was of the opinion that he is not competent authority, therefore, he has sent the papers of enquiry to the Director, Secondary (4) Govind Ram Khokhar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Others Education, Rajasthan, Bikaner. This fact itself sufficiently shows that the charge-sheet was issued by the District Collector who has no jurisdiction to take disciplinary action and punishment order has been passed by Director which is not permissible under the law because under Rule 17 of the CCA Rules the disciplinary authority is required to apply its mind before taking disciplinary action but, in this matter, charge-sheet has been issued by the District Collector, Bhilwara under Rule 17 of the CCA Rules of 1958, thereafter, the papers were sent to the Director, Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Bikaner, then, obviously the Collector was of the opinion that he lacked the jurisdiction to take action against the employee of the Education Department and, therefore, he cannot decide the matter with regard to disciplinary proceedings initiated against the petitioner under Rule 17 of the CCA Rules. In this view of the matter, right from inception, the charge- sheet was issued by the incompetent authority and, on that basis, the punishment order is passed by the Director, Education Department, Bikaner which is not permissible under law. As a sequel to the above, this writ petition is allowed. Impugned charge-sheet Annex.-2 dated 23.05.2003 issued by the District Collector, Bhilwara is quashed and consequently (5) Govind Ram Khokhar Vs. State of Rajasthan & Others orders passed in the proceedings by the Director, Education Department, Bikaner dated 13.01.2006, including the order passed by the appellate authority, are set aside. No order as to costs. (Gopal Krishan Vyas) J. Ojha, a.