Mandatory notice and prior approval govern teacher termination; employer cannot justify action by relying on its own wrong.

Termination of a recognised private primary school teacher is invalid where the governing statute requires a show cause notice and prior written approval before dismissal, and both safeguards were not followed. The Court also reiterated that qualification norms for elementary education must be strictly enforced and that an appointment made in breach of prescribed eligibility requirements is ordinarily void. However, the employer could not rely on the alleged illegality of the original appointment to justify termination when it had acted discriminatorily and by victimising the teacher, because a party cannot take advantage of its own wrong or validate action by perpetuating illegality.

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Issues: Whether the termination of a primary school teacher could be sustained when the mandatory procedure under section 40B had not been followed, and whether the employer could justify the action by relying on the alleged illegality of the original appointment and the teacher's qualification.

Analysis: The statutory framework required both a show cause notice and prior written approval of the competent authority before termination. The record showed non-compliance on both counts, and the factual findings of the Tribunal and the High Court on this breach were not disturbed. At the same time, the Court reiterated that eligibility requirements fixed for elementary education must be strictly enforced and that an appointment made in contravention of the prescribed qualification would ordinarily be void. However, the Court also applied the settled rule that an order should not be set aside if doing so would revive another illegality, and that a party cannot be permitted to take advantage of its own wrong. On the facts, the management had treated similarly qualified teachers differently, which supported the finding of discrimination and victimisation.

Conclusion: The termination could not be interfered with in the appellant's favour, and the respondent succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was held to be without merit because the challenged termination was vitiated by statutory non-compliance, while the employer was also disentitled from relying on its own discriminatory conduct to justify the action.

Ratio Decidendi: An order of termination of a teacher in a recognised private primary school is invalid if passed without the mandatory notice and prior approval required by the governing statute, and a party cannot seek to validate its action by invoking its own wrong or by perpetuating illegality.

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