Investigation confirms authenticity of certificates, Rajasthan High Court cancels discontinuation of services of Safai Karamcharis

A single-judge bench of Justice Sudesh Bansal, while allowing the series of petitions, observed that Safaikaramcharis, whose appointment was canceled on charges of submitting false certificates to the authorities, should be allowed to continue in service from the date of appointment with all consequential benefits. The bench held that since the investigation suggested a contradiction with the allegations, the termination orders were rejected.

Background

The appointment of the petitioners as Safai Karamchari was canceled by termination orders passed by the Officer in Charge of Nagara Palika Kekri due to non-verification of their experience certificates. After submitting the requisite certificates of one year’s experience, they were appointed as Safai Karamcharis as per the procedure laid down in the Rajasthan Safai Karamcharis Service Rules, 2012. The respondents alleged that the certificates furnished by the petitioners were false, following which a notice was issued against the petitioners. by Nagara Palika. They have been asked to verify their certificates within 15 days. Their nomination was revoked because the evidence they provided to prove the authenticity of their certificates was not sufficient.

Several writ petitions were filed before the High Court Division challenging the appointment of the petitioners on a number of grounds including irregularity/illegality in adopting lottery based selection system, appointment of ineligible candidates on the ground of having more than two children after the expiry of the date limit, overstaying of candidates belonging to the reserved category credentials of General category candidates and submission of false and forged experience certificates etc. The Court partially allowed the Applications and stated,

“ Respondents are also required to ensure that the names of ineligible or falsely declared candidates are appropriately removed in accordance with law; this depends on the final outcome of the proceedings initiated by such candidates.

The Court also found

“For the candidates whose names have been removed, the fact is that many of them have approached the court. Their names will be treated in their case according to the final order of the court.”

Another writ petition was filed by some private respondents raising the issue of appointment of ineligible candidates to the post of Safai Karamchari by the Nagar Palika. It was also discontinued, reiterating the above comments.

Subsequently, a General Meeting of the Kekri Municipal Board was convened on February 3, 2022 and a detailed inquiry was conducted into the authenticity and genuineness of the certificates submitted by the Applicants. The counsel for the petitioners before the single-member bench submitted that the certificates of the candidates selected for the post of Safai Karamchari were duly verified after inquiry.

The said Applications to the Single-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court mainly concerned the issue of verification/non-verification of experience certificates of appointees-petitioners whose appointment was earlier canceled due to the allegation of submitting false certificates, which was later proven otherwise.

As the petitioners’ case was pending before the Court, they were not allowed to continue in service while other appointees were already serving.

The petitioners’ counsel prayed for the quashing and quashing of the termination orders before the single-member bench as the inquiry verified whether the documents were authentic.

The Court’s findings:

The Tribunal held that the petitioners were appointed as Safai Karamchari by the Kekri Municipal Board and the appointment was made in accordance with the Statutory Rules, 2012 (as amended). The meeting was canceled due to allegations of submitting false documents. The municipality later found that the experience certificates provided by the petitioners were authentic and valid. The remaining appointees were allowed to continue their services as they did not participate in the pleadings, but the petitioners were prevented from doing so due to the ongoing legal proceedings. The Court held that the Coordination Bench had already decided the issue of validity of the experience certificates of the petitioners under the 2012 Rules on the merits in another writ petition and the same would apply to the petitioners as well.

Observing that there was no dispute between the petitioners and the Kekri and Ajmer Municipal Boards, the Court held that the termination provisions could be set aside.

While making these observations, the Court reiterated that the services of the petitioners will be treated on a continuous basis from the date of issuance of the relevant orders of appointment and any resulting financial benefit will be conferred on the petitioners.

Accordingly, the written applications were dismissed.

Case Title: Pawan Lakhan vs. State of Rajasthan and Ors

Counsel for the petitioner: Mr. MI Abbasi Mr. Sudarshan Kumar Laddha

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr. Neeraj Batra, GC Mr. Mahnedra Shah Sr. Adv. assisted by Mr. Kamlesh Sharma Mr. Nakul Bansal Ms. Gunjan Chawla Mr. Ravinder Pal Singh

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