HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has set aside the termination of a Secondary Grade Teacher (SGT) appointed through DSC-2024, holding that an innocent appointee cannot be removed to accommodate a more meritorious candidate after the recruitment process has been completed. Justice K Sarath allowed a petition filed by Sabavat Veena and directed the authorities to reinstate her with all consequential benefits within eight weeks.
Veena, belonging to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, was appointed as an SGT at MPPS Morambavi tanda Mahbubnagar district after securing 67.37 marks and Rank 226 in DSC-2024. She joined duty on October 16, 2024, but was terminated on July 10, 2025, to accommodate D Vinod Kumar, who secured Rank 116 with 70.87 marks in the same category.
The authorities said Vinod Kumar’s candidature was initially not considered due to a pending criminal case. Following his acquittal in January 2025, they decided to appoint him, describing Veena’s appointment as an inadvertent mistake. The court noted that Veena was terminated without a show-cause notice or an opportunity to explain her position.