Debarment from examinations without a hearing violates natural justice and is legally unsustainable.

The petitioner challenged the Bihar Public Service Commission’s notice dated 29 December 2023, by which he was permanently debarred from appearing in future examinations on the allegation that he had been involved in impersonation during the Teacher Competitive Examination conducted on 8 December 2023 pursuant to Advertisement No. 27/2023.

He also challenged Memo No. 5154 dated 14 March 2024, whereby the names of candidates, including the petitioner, were communicated to Public Service Commissions across the country as debarred candidates.

The petitioner contended that he had appeared personally, had undergone biometric and photographic verification at the examination centre, was permitted to take the examination, and had his result published.

During the proceedings, the Court was informed that an identical challenge to the same notice and memo had been allowed in Prabhash Kumar v. The State of Bihar & Ors., CWJC No. 7615 of 2024, decided on 17 April 2025.

1. Whether the Commission’s notice dated 29 December 2023 permanently debarring the petitioner, on the allegation of impersonation, was sustainable when the petitioner was not given an opportunity to explain or defend himself?

2. Whether Memo No. 5154 dated 14 March 2024, communicating the petitioner’s alleged debarment to Public Service Commissions across the country, could be sustained in the absence of a procedurally valid debarment order?

3. Whether the impugned notice and memo were liable to be set aside in view of the coordinate Bench’s decision in Prabhash Kumar concerning the same examination, allegation, and Commission communications?

The Court applied the principles of natural justice, particularly the rule that a person cannot be subjected to a serious penal or adverse administrative consequence without being given a meaningful opportunity of hearing.

It considered Clause 7 of the admit-card instructions, under which candidates found using unfair means could be debarred from examinations in addition to possible action under the Bihar Conduct of Examinations Act, 1981.

However, the Court relied principally on the coordinate Bench decision in Prabhash Kumar v. The State of Bihar & Ors., CWJC No. 7615 of 2024, decided on 17 April 2025, which held that the same notice and memo were unsustainable because they had been issued in breach of natural justice and had severe penal consequences.

The Court found that the petitioner had specifically denied impersonation and asserted that he had appeared personally, completed biometric and photographic verification, and was allowed to sit for the examination.

The Commission had not clarified the alleged photographic mismatch or supplied the petitioner with an opportunity to rebut the allegation.

Since the debarment was permanent and its communication to other Public Service Commissions adversely affected the petitioner’s future examination prospects, the action attracted the requirements of natural justice.

The Court further noted that the petitioner’s participation in the examination and publication of his result undermined the justification for subsequently imposing the severe debarment.

As the coordinate Bench had already quashed the identical notice and memo in Prabhash Kumar on substantially the same facts and legal grounds, and the Commission did not dispute that decision, the Court followed that precedent and declined to undertake a separate adjudication.

The notice dated 29 December 2023 and Memo No. 5154 dated 14 March 2024 were held unsustainable and set aside insofar as they related to the petitioner.

The Bihar Public Service Commission was directed to immediately remove the notice concerning the petitioner from its official website and communicate the quashing of the notice and memo to the Public Service Commissions across the country to which they had been sent.