Authorities must verify the employee’s qualification before deciding salary reduction under the appointment terms.

The petitioner, an Assistant Grade-3 appointed on 27 September 2019, challenged reductions in his salary for December 2025 and July–August 2026, seeking to prevent further deductions and recover the amounts deducted with interest.

He alleged that the reductions were made without explanation, despite his representations.

The State submitted that Clause 5 of his appointment order required him, within one year and six months, to produce a certificate or diploma in Data Entry Operator/Programming from a recognized institution and the prescribed Hindi computer-typing qualification; the deductions followed his failure to produce those qualifications within the stipulated period.

The petitioner stated that he had since acquired the qualification and submitted it to the school Principal.

Whether the petitioner’s salary reductions were justified in light of the qualification requirement in Clause 5 of his appointment order

Whether the petitioner’s subsequently acquired qualification should be examined by the District Education Officer, and what consequential action should follow

The Court relied on Clause 5 of the petitioner’s appointment order, which required him to produce the specified computer-related qualification within one year and six months of appointment.

It directed that any qualification produced by the petitioner be verified and examined by the District Education Officer, who must then pass an appropriate order in accordance with law and the conditions of the appointment order.

The order cites no statute, regulation, or judicial precedent.

The Court noted that the appointment order imposed a time-bound qualification requirement and that the State attributed the salary reductions to the petitioner’s failure to meet it within the stipulated period.

Because the petitioner asserted that he had acquired and submitted the qualification, the Court directed him to produce the relevant documents before the District Education Officer.

Rather than deciding the validity of the deductions or ordering a refund, the Court left examination of the qualification and the resulting action to that officer under the appointment conditions and applicable law.

If produced, the officer must verify and examine it and pass an appropriate order in accordance with law and the appointment order, completing the exercise within 50 days of receiving the documents.

The Court did not itself order a refund or award interest.