HC stays withdrawal of confirmation and recovery orders against teacher recruits

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has granted interim relief to several Teacher Grade-II recruits by staying an order that withdrew their confirmation and directed recovery of alleged excess payments.

Justice Anand Sharma passed the order on May 15 while hearing a petition filed by Ram Singh Choudhary and others challenging the action of the education department.

According to the petition, the teachers were appointed as Teacher Level II in different subjects through appointment orders issued on Sept 27, Oct 4 and Oct 5, 2023, and subsequently joined service.

Counsel for the petitioners, Harendra Neel, told the court that the recruitment process had earlier been challenged before the high court. While disposing of the earlier petition on Nov 28, 2023, a single bench observed that candidates who failed to secure a place in the revised merit list would not acquire the right to continue in service merely based on appointments already granted.

The affected candidates later appealed before a division bench, which on Aug 19, 2025, set aside those directions. Following the division bench order, the petitioners’ services were confirmed through orders dated Nov 12, 2025, and Feb 5, 2026.

However, Neel submitted that the district education officer later issued an order on March 12, 2026, withdrawing the confirmations and directing recovery of amounts allegedly paid in excess.

He argued that the order was issued without giving the petitioners an opportunity of hearing and despite the earlier directions relied upon by the department having already been quashed by the division bench.

After hearing the matter, the court observed that the issue required consideration, issued notices to the state govt and stayed operation of the March 12 order against the petitioners until further orders.