Jodhpur: Expressing displeasure over the failure to convene a meeting of Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) to review promotions for the posts of headmaster and principal in the secondary education dept, the Rajasthan high court described the govt’s conduct as negligent. A single bench of Justice Rekha Borana made this observation while hearing contempt petitions Thursday filed by Rajendra Kumar and Shanti Choudhary, noting that despite earlier court directions, the authorities did not take timely steps to implement the orders. The court directed that if a compliance report reflecting the true spirit of compliance with its directions is not filed by the next hearing on March 25, the principal secretary of the education dept and the director of secondary education will have to appear before the court. According to petitioners’ counsel Devki Nandan Vyas, the petitioners submitted representations to the authorities concerned in the same month seeking a review DPC after completing three years of service as headmaster/principal in Aug 2023, making them eligible for consideration for further promotion. “When no action followed, a reminder was submitted in Sept 2023 along with a formal notice. With no response forthcoming, the petitioners moved the High Court through contempt petitions in March 2024 and Feb 2025,” Vyas said. Earlier, in January this year, the court had granted the department eight weeks to comply with its directions, warning that failure to do so would require the director of secondary education to appear personally before the court. Additional advocate general informed the court Thursday that the process to implement the order was underway and a communication dated March 7 was sent to the personnel dept seeking approval to convene a meeting of DPC. Once the approval is received, the proposal would be forwarded to the Rajasthan Public Service Commission to fix a date for the meeting. The court, however, remarked that despite the 8-weeks’ time granted earlier, the first official correspondence was initiated only on March 7, calling the respondents’ conduct “clearly contemptuous”. It also noted that although the orders were passed in 2023, a review DPC is yet to be convened. The matter will now be heard on March 25. The court warned that if a proper compliance report is not filed by then, senior officials of the department will have to personally explain why punitive action should not be initiated against them.
