Hyderabad: Telangana high court has suspended proceedings issued by the education department cancelling the appointment of 35 junior lecturers (JLs) and directed state govt to reinstate them in service forthwith, holding that their appointments cannot be cancelled over allegations of fake postgraduate certificates without conducting an inquiry and giving them an opportunity to defend themselves.Justice K Sarath passed the interim orders on Wednesday while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Oct 1 proceedings issued by the director of Intermediate education. The judge also clarified that the interim order would not prevent the authorities from initiating departmental proceedings in accordance with law.According to the petitioners, their services were regularised in May 2023 along with over 3,000 contractual JLs after they submitted postgraduate certificates and genuineness letters issued by the respective universities.“The department initially accepted these documents but later issued show-cause notices alleging that their certificates were not genuine,” they argued.The petitioners submitted explanations denying the allegations and pointed out that the universities had earlier certified their qualifications as genuine.They argued that the authorities ignored their explanations and cancelled their appointments without conducting an inquiry under the applicable service rules.“Further, the director of Intermediate education, being a higher authority, could not bypass the regional joint director of Intermediate education, the disciplinary authority, thereby depriving them of an opportunity to appeal,” the petitioners added.Govt opposed the petitions, stating that the universities had informed the department that records relating to the lecturers’ certificates could not be found.“Their appointments were subject to verification of original certificates, their probation had not been declared and a regular departmental inquiry was not necessary before cancelling their appointments,” the govt counsel argued.In response, the court observed that the lecturers had produced university letters certifying the genuineness of their certificates, while subsequent communications from the same universities questioned their authenticity. “This discrepancy required an inquiry and an opportunity for the lecturers to explain their position,” the judge said.Relying on Supreme Court judgments, the court held that termination based on allegations of misconduct, which carries a stigma, cannot be treated as a simple discharge from service without following due procedure. It also noted that the lecturers had served the department for more than 10 years.
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