MP HC Dismisses Teacher’s Writ Appeal Over Firing By Unaided CBSE School, Citing Contractual Service Dispute

In brief

The question

Whether a writ petition under Article 226 is maintainable to challenge the termination of an employee by a private, unaided CBSE-affiliated school where the claim concerns a contract of personal service.

The court held

The Court upheld the Writ Court’s dismissal of the petition as not maintainable and dismissed the writ appeal.

It also directed

It observed that the appellant could approach the Civil Court if so advised.

01Facts

The appellant was appointed as a Post Graduate Teacher (Physics) at Sagar Public School, an unaided school affiliated with the CBSE, on 10 June 2011.

¶ 2–5

The school terminated his services on 1 February 2022.

¶ 2–5

After making representations and a complaint to the Joint Director, DPI, he filed a writ petition challenging the termination.

¶ 2–5

The Writ Court dismissed the petition as not maintainable against a non-government, unaided educational institution.

¶ 2–5

The appellant appealed, arguing that the school’s CBSE affiliation and public functions made the petition maintainable and that he had been terminated without a hearing.

¶ 2–5

He also alleged that the school had submitted a forged appointment letter to the Commissioner, DPI.

¶ 2–5

02Issues

i.Whether a writ petition under Article 226 is maintainable to challenge the termination of an employee by a private, unaided CBSE-affiliated school where the claim concerns a contract of personal service.

¶ 3–6

ii.Whether the alleged denial of a hearing and the school’s public functions made the service dispute amenable to writ review.

¶ 4–6

03Law Applied

Under St. Mary’s Education Society v. Rajendra Prasad Bhargava, (2023) 4 SCC 498, a CBSE-affiliated unaided school may perform a public duty and may be amenable to judicial review in respect of actions involving a public-law element; however, that does not make its employees’ ordinary service disputes subject to Article 226 where their service conditions are not governed by statutory provisions.

¶ 6

Matters such as termination that arise solely under a contract of personal service, without statutory force or backing, remain in the realm of ordinary contract law.

¶ 6

The appeal was brought under Section 2(1) of the M.P. Uchcha Nyayalaya (Khand Nyayapeeth Ko Appeal) Adhiniyam, 2005.

¶ 1

Provisions in the judgment · 1

M.P. Uchcha Nyayalaya (Khand Nyayapeeth Ko Appeal) Adhiniyam, 2005 Section 2

04Reasoning

The Court treated the challenge to termination as a dispute concerning the appellant’s contract of personal service.

¶ 4–6

It held that the school’s CBSE affiliation and performance of an educational public duty did not, by themselves, make this service decision reviewable under Article 226.

¶ 4–6

The appellant did not establish that his service conditions were governed by statutory provisions; accordingly, the asserted denial of a hearing and the allegation concerning the appointment letter did not alter the character of the dispute as an ordinary service-contract matter.

¶ 4–6