High Court of Uttarakhand · 2025

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1. Pet it ioners part icipat ed t he select ion appoint m ent as Assist ant Teacher, Governm ent Prim ary School, held in t he year 2021 and, upon select ion, t hey were appoint ed in different Dist rict s by m eans of orders issued in t he m ont h of January, 2022.

2. The post of Assist ant Teacher, Governm ent Prim ary School is a Dist rict Cadre Post , and anyone appoint ed on t he post is not liable t o be t ransferred out side t he dist rict . Appoint ing aut horit y for t he said post is Dist rict Educat ion 1 Officer. Since pet it ioners were appoint ed in hill dist rict s or ot her rem ot e places and t hey were desirous of serving in accessible places or in t heir hom e dist rict s, t herefore t hey wish t o again part icipat e in t he select ion for appoint m ent t o t he post of Assist ant Teacher, Governm ent Prim ary School. However, t hey will have t o subm it ‘No Obj ect ion Cert ificat e’ from t he Com pet ent Aut horit y for reapplying t o t he sam e post .

3. Direct or ( Elem ent ary Educat ion) , Ut t arakhand issued a circular on 27.07.2024, whereby inst ruct ions were issued t o t he Dist rict Educat ion Officers of all 13 Dist rict s not t o issue ‘No Obj ect ion Cert ificat e’ t o persons who are already serving as Assist ant Teacher, Governm ent Prim ary School.

4. Pet it ioners have challenged said circular on t he ground t hat it curt ails t heir freedom of choice. Learned St at e Counsel, however relies upon a j udgm ent rendered by Division Bench of t his Court in WPSB No. 308 of 2024, for cont ending t hat em ployee does not have inherent right t o get NOC and em ployer has every right t o say no t o a request for NOC m ade by t he em ployee. Para 8, 9 and 10 of t he said j udgm ent is reproduced below: against em ployee reservat ion “ 8. As t he nam e of t he Cert ificat e it self suggest s, it is issued by t he em ployer t o facilit at e t he act of his em ployee seeking em ploym ent elsewhere. Thus, if t he em ployer has som e seeking em ploym ent elsewhere, t hen t he em ployer can refuse t o in every is a right , which grant NOC. This em ployer. However, it does not m ean t hat aft er accept ing em ploym ent , an em ployee loses all his right s and he is always free t o resign and t hen apply for appoint m ent in som e ot her organizat ion. I ssuance of NOC indicat es t hat t he em ployer has consent ed t o t he act of his em ployee seeking em ploym ent elsewhere. There is no law, which regulat es grant of NOC. Sect ion 13 of t he I ndian Cont ract Act , 1872 defines ‘consent ’ and Sect ion 14 defines “ Free consent ”, which are reproduced below: - inheres 2 “ 1 3 . ' Co n se n t ' d e f i n e d .— Two or m ore persons are said t o consent when t hey agree upon t he sam e t hing in t he sam e sense. 1 4 . ‘ Fr e e co n se n t ’ d e f i n e d .—Consent is said t o be free when it is not caused by— ( 1) coercion, as defined in sect ion 15, or ( 2) undue influence, as defined in sect ion 16 or ( 3) fraud, as defined in sect ion 17, or ( 4) m isrepresent at ion, as defined in sect ion 18, or ( 5) m ist ake, subj ect t o t he provisions of sect ions 20, 21 and 22. Consent is said t o be so caused when it would not have been given but t he exist ence of such coercion, undue influence, fraud, m isrepresent at ion or m ist ake.” t he t hat learned counsel t he 9. The cont ent ion m ade by pet it ioner im pugned t he condit ion put by Governm ent Order am ount s t o an art ificial classificat ion bet ween Governm ent Medical Colleges, wit hin t he St at e, vis- a-vis ot her Medical Colleges, cannot be accept ed. Governm ent Medical Colleges are est ablished t o provide qualit y m edical educat ion on subsidized t uit ion fee and also t o provide m edical and healt h services t o t he m asses. Huge am ount of public m oney is spent t o est ablish and run Governm ent Medical Colleges, which funct ion as referral hospit als for providing t ert iary healt h services t o t he poor, who cannot afford t o go t o privat e hospit als for t reat m ent . Various out reach pr ogram s are conduct ed by Governm ent Medical Colleges for t he benefit of m asses, which is seldom done by privat e Medical Colleges. There is no profit m ot ive for running a Governm ent Medical College and t hey are m aint ained by t he St at e Governm ent , unlike privat e Medical Colleges, which have t o st rike a balance bet ween incom e and expendit ure. Thus, Governm ent Medical Colleges fall in a different class and equalit y clause cont ained in Art icle 14 of t he Const it ut ion t he int o service cannot be pressed classificat ion m ade bet ween Governm ent Medical Colleges vis- a-vis ot her colleges. Art icle 14 ordains t hat equals t reat ed unequally. As discussed earlier, cannot be Governm ent Medical Colleges belong t o a different class, t herefore, t he St at e Governm ent can very well m ake special provision for such colleges. t he grant s provided by for quest ioning

10. From t he above discussion, it is apparent t hat NOC for seeking em ploym ent under som e ot her em ployer requires consent of t he em ployer. When an em ployee request s for NOC and t he em ployer accedes t o t he request of t he em ployee, t hen NOC is issued. Thus, bot h part ies m ust agree, before NOC can be issued. I f t he em ployer does not agree t o t he request m ade by em ployees, NOC cannot be issued. Thus, t he St at e Governm ent has exercised it s right t o say no, which is available t o every em ployer. The im pugned decision cannot be said t o be arbit rary, so as t o 3 warrant j udicial int erference.”

5. Learned counsel for t he pet it ioners subm it s t hat since appoint ing aut horit y t he post of Assist ant Teacher, Governm ent Prim ary School is Dist rict Educat ion Officer, t herefore t he decision whet her t o issue NOC, or not , has t o be t aken by t he appoint ing aut horit y and t he Direct or ( School Educat ion) has no aut horit y t o issue such inst ruct ions t o t he com pet ent aut horit y. Thus it is cont ended t hat int erference m ade by Direct or wit h t he power of t he Dist rict Educat ion Officer, is arbit rary and illegal.

6. This Court finds subst ance in t he subm ission m ade by learned counsel for t he pet it ioners.

7. Adm it t edly, Direct or is not t he appoint ing aut horit y for t he post of Assist ant Teacher, Governm ent Prim ary Schools, as per t he applicable rules and t hey are appoint ed by Dist rict Educat ion Officer. Thus t he decision whet her t o issue ‘No Obj ect ion Cert ificat e’ t o a Assist ant Teacher or not can be t aken only by t he appoint ing aut horit y on case t o case basis.

8. Since t he field is covered by recruit m ent rules which are st at ut ory, t herefore decision in t he m at t er has t o be t aken by t he aut horit y, who is com pet ent t o m ake appoint m ent as per t he recruit m ent rules. Thus, direct ion issued by Direct or ( School Educat ion) , is dehors t he st at ut ory Rules, which cannot be sust ained in t he eyes of law.

9. I n such view of t he m at t er, writ pet it ion is allowed, t he circular dat ed 27.07.2024 issued by Direct or ( School Educat ion) , t o t he ext ent it int erferes wit h t he aut horit y of Dist rict Educat ion Officer t o ‘No Obj ect ion 4 Cert ificat e’, is set aside. The request m ade by Prim ary School t eachers for NOC shall be considered by t he Dist rict Educat ion Officer concerned on case- t o- case basis, as per law.

10. Pending applicat ion( s) , if any, st and disposed of. _______________________________ M A N OJ K UM A R TI W A RI , J. Dt : 02.09.2025 Mahinder MAHINDER SINGH DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=da6212e6e78d94ed3134842bc6a8d6ca168979ca7b8c2f031a92d1a18b08923c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=AB77B7C5B240908B392BE84F5CDD4C2AF35DC4626D305B1BC9EA4BABA43D2B8F, cn=MAHINDER SINGH 5