In Brief
Two employees of Mayo College, Ajmer—a prestigious private unaided school founded in 1875—were dismissed in November 2000 for allegedly instigating workplace agitation during the institution's annual function. The High Court upheld their reinstatement citing procedural non-compliance with Section 18 of the Rajasthan Non-Government Educational Institutions Act, 1989, but the Division Bench modified it to compensation. The Supreme Court held that in private unaided educational institutions, the master-servant relationship is purely contractual; therefore, reinstatement is impermissible and damages are the sole remedy. Rejecting full back-wages, the Court awarded enhanced compensation calculated on actual pay for eight years, quantified at Rs. 25 lakhs (Kailash Singh) and Rs. 18 lakhs (Jeffry Jobard), balancing procedural illegality against substantive loss of confidence.
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