Case Background
The petitioners in these two writ petitions had appeared in the Bihar Elementary Teacher Eligibility Test (BETET) in the year 2011. They successfully passed the examination, and their BETET certificates were issued by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB).
After the Bihar Panchayat Elementary Teacher (Employment and Service Condition) Rules, 2012 came into force, vacancies for Block and Panchayat Teachers were advertised. The petitioners, having the required qualifications, applied for these posts. On the basis of their documents and certificates, including BETET, they were appointed and allowed to join after verification.
The petitioners worked continuously on their respective posts and received salaries up to October 2018. Meanwhile, in a public interest litigation, C.W.J.C. No. 15459 of 2014 (Ranjeet Pandit & Anr. v. The State of Bihar & Ors.), this Court had directed the Vigilance department to investigate forged and fabricated BETET certificates of teachers and to take appropriate legal action.
In the course of this larger vigilance exercise, an FIR came to be registered concerning alleged fake BETET certificates. The petitioners came to know about this FIR and, fearing arrest, applied for anticipatory bail. The court below allowed their anticipatory bail applications.
However, even though the petitioners continued in service and no termination orders were issued against them, their salaries were stopped from October 2018 onwards, solely due to the pendency of the vigilance investigation.
What the Court Examined and Decided
The central relief sought by the petitioners was a direction to the authorities to treat their BETET certificates as valid and genuine, as issued by the Bihar School Examination Board, and to resume payment of current salaries along with arrears accrued till date.
The Court first noted the nature of the allegations in the FIR. The allegations were described as general and omnibus. There was no specific instance pointed out to show that the particular BETET certificates of these petitioners were forged or fabricated. Despite this, the petitioners’ salaries had been stopped.
During investigation, it emerged that the enquiry against the petitioners was being carried out on the premise that they had passed only one part of the BETET examination and had not passed the other part. The case against them was not that their certificates were false in the sense of being fabricated documents; rather, it was based on an assumption about the requirement of passing both papers of the exam.
The Court was informed about the scheme of the BETET examination. In BETET, candidates seeking appointment as teachers for particular classes could pass either Part-I or Part-II or both parts. There was no rule that a candidate must pass both papers to have a valid certificate.
The Court referred to an earlier matter, C.W.J.C. No. 9786 of 2019 (Chandani Kumari v. The State of Bihar & Ors.). In that case, similar issues were raised about BETET certificates and vigilance investigation. The Court had asked the Vigilance counsel to look into the matter and was shown the entire investigation records.
From those records, it was observed that the vigilance investigator had mechanically signed documents placed before him, without proper verification. The database of the Bihar School Examination Board did not show that the BETET certificate in that case was forged or fabricated. The only objection was that the candidate had passed only one part of the examination.
In the Chandani Kumari case, the Court was apprised that for appointment as teachers for Classes VI to VIII, passing Paper-I alone was sufficient. For appointment as teachers for Classes I to V, passing Paper-II alone was required. Only those who passed both papers had eligibility to apply for posts covering all classes. Therefore, a candidate who had passed only one paper was still validly qualified for a specific range of classes.
Applying this understanding, the Court held that such a scheme “necessarily implies” that the petitioners were eligible to be appointed as teachers for the classes corresponding to the paper they had passed.
The Court was also told about a complaint made by some candidates to the Director General of Police regarding faulty vigilance investigation. An enquiry was set up. Before that enquiry concluded, two erring police officials admitted that they had signed reports mechanically, without checking the correctness of allegations or the defence of the affected teachers.
In the earlier case, the Vigilance counsel informed the Court that the conduct of the vigilance officer was found to be absolutely unpardonable. As a result, he faced departmental proceedings and was punished with one black mark.
The Bihar School Examination Board, in its report in that earlier case, admitted that in its database the petitioner was shown as having passed one of the papers of the examination. Thus, the Board itself treated the BETET certificate as genuine.
In the present writ petitions, the Court noted that no notice had been issued to these petitioners to explain the circumstances or to respond to any specific charge. Unlike in Chandani Kumari’s case, where termination orders had been passed and were set aside, here no termination order had been issued at all. Only the salaries had been stopped pending vigilance investigation.
Referring back to its earlier decision in Chandani Kumari, the Court recalled that in that case it had set aside the termination order and directed the Director, Primary Education, Government of Bihar, to take a decision regarding termination and resumption of salary.
In the present cases, considering that the petitioners remained in service without notice of termination, yet had their salaries withheld solely because of the ongoing vigilance case, the Court found such withholding unjustified.
The Court therefore issued specific directions. It directed that if the petitioners submit a representation to the Director, Primary Education, Department of Education, Government of Bihar (respondent no. 3), along with a copy of the Court’s order, within four weeks, the Director must consider the representation.
The Director is required to look into the matter and pass necessary orders, which may include resuming the salaries of the petitioners that were stopped only due to the pendency of the investigative process. The Director is also empowered to pass any other consequential orders that may be a necessary sequel in these cases.
However, the Court made it clear that any such decision by the Director will remain subject to the final outcome of the vigilance investigation. In other words, salary resumption does not stop the investigation, and if the petitioners are later found guilty of wrongdoing, “necessary consequences shall follow.”
Finally, the Court reiterated that the police are under an obligation to complete the investigation at the earliest. Prolonged pendency should not be used as a ground to indefinitely deprive employees of their salary without a final finding of guilt or even a proper show-cause notice.
With these observations and directions, both writ petitions and any interlocutory applications were disposed of.
Why This Judgment Matters
This judgment is important for teachers and other employees whose salaries are stopped only because of a pending vigilance enquiry, without any clear finding or specific allegation against them.
The Patna High Court recognised that the petitioners’ BETET certificates were issued by the Bihar School Examination Board and that its database did not show them as forged. The dispute arose only from a misunderstanding of the examination scheme, where passing one paper can still make a candidate eligible for certain classes.
The Court’s directions protect employees from being deprived of salary for long periods merely on the basis of general allegations and mechanical investigation. At the same time, it preserved the State’s right to take action if the final investigation finds them guilty.
For similarly placed teachers in Bihar, the judgment provides a clear route: they can make a representation to the Director, Primary Education, and seek reconsideration and resumption of their salaries while the investigation continues.
Legal Issues and Answers
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Issue: Can the salaries of BETET-qualified teachers be stopped indefinitely on the basis of a general vigilance FIR alleging forged certificates, without specific proof or termination proceedings?
Answer: The Court held that salaries cannot be withheld solely due to pendency of investigation when certificates are shown as valid in BSEB records and no notice of termination has been issued. The Director, Primary Education, must reconsider the matter and pass appropriate orders, including resumption of salary, subject to the final outcome of the investigation. -
Issue: Does a candidate need to pass both BETET papers to be a validly qualified teacher?
Answer: Based on the examination scheme, the Court noted that a candidate may pass Part-I or Part-II or both. Passing Paper-I alone qualifies for teaching Classes VI to VIII, while passing Paper-II alone qualifies for Classes I to V. Passing both papers gives eligibility for all classes. -
Issue: What is the Court’s stance on faulty or mechanical vigilance investigations concerning teacher eligibility?
Answer: The Court disapproved of mechanical signing of reports without proper verification, noted prior departmental action against such vigilance officers, and emphasised the duty of the police to conclude investigations at the earliest.
Cases Cited by the Court
- C.W.J.C. No. 15459 of 2014, Ranjeet Pandit & Anr. v. The State of Bihar & Ors. (public interest litigation leading to vigilance investigation into forged BETET certificates).
- C.W.J.C. No. 9786 of 2019, Chandani Kumari v. The State of Bihar & Ors. (earlier case where termination of a teacher on similar grounds was set aside and the BETET examination scheme was examined).
Case Details
Case Number: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 9919 of 2019; with Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 11796 of 2019
Case Title: Gayatri Kumari v. The State of Bihar & Ors.; with Shambhu Saw v. The State of Bihar & Ors.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ashutosh Kumar
Date of Judgment: 28-01-2022
Citation: 2022(1) PLJR 713
Advocates: For the petitioners – Mr. Mrityunjay Kumar, Advocate. For the respondents – Mr. Girijish Kumar, Advocate; Mr. Gyan Shankar, Advocate; Mr. Priyadarshi Maitri Sharan, Advocate.
Nature of the Case: Writ petitions under civil writ jurisdiction seeking direction to treat BETET certificates as valid and to resume payment of salaries and arrears, in the context of a pending vigilance investigation.
Link to the Judgment: Click here to read the full judgment of the Patna High Court
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