The Allahabad High Court has recently upheld a decision that exonerates a senior woman officer who was previously punished for her comments on the 2018 Kasganj violence. In a ruling delivered on May 29, a Division Bench comprising Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government’s appeal to reinstate disciplinary action against Rashmi Varun, Deputy Director (Economic and Statistics), based on her Facebook post. [State of UP v Rashmi]
The court found that the disciplinary measures taken against Varun were primarily based on a report by the Dainik Jagran newspaper, without proper verification of her actual Facebook post. The judges noted that despite Varun’s response clarifying the newspaper’s misrepresentation, the authorities failed to consider her original comments.
“Once the respondent had dissociated herself from the comments, it was incumbent upon the authorities during the enquiry to verify the actual Facebook comments before proceeding to pass the order of punishment,” the Bench stated. Consequently, the court rejected the Uttar Pradesh government’s challenge to the UP Public Service Tribunal’s decision, which had previously set aside the punishment order issued against Varun.
In her post, Varun had stated that the youth killed during the Kasganj violence was not a victim of any community, but was “killed by bhagwa (saffron) under the shield of a Tiranga rally.” She also remarked on the absence of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar from the Ambedkar Jayanti rally, commenting that he seemed to have been “immersed” in saffron.
In 2019, the State government censured Varun and withheld her salary increments. However, the services tribunal overturned this punishment in December 2025. The State subsequently appealed to the High Court, arguing that Varun’s comments constituted serious misconduct and warranted disciplinary action.
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The officer countered that her comments were not directed at the government and did not incite any law and order issues. The High Court concluded that her remarks did not constitute criticism of the government, highlighting that the rally in question was a private event with no government affiliation. “Upon reviewing the article, we find that the respondent merely commented on the absence of Dr. Ambedkar in the rally. We fail to see how this comment would amount to criticizing the Government,” the Bench noted.
The judgment further criticized the enquiry officer for neglecting to consider Varun’s defense, suggesting that the punishment was issued without due diligence. The court determined that her comments did not amount to misconduct under relevant rules, thereby affirming the tribunal’s decision and dismissing the State’s appeal.
Representing the State, Standing Counsel Anand Kumar Singh presented the case. [Read Judgment]
