In a significant ruling, the Jharkhand High Court has set aside disciplinary action taken against a government employee after his retirement, holding that the proceedings violated the principles of natural justice. Justice Anand Sen quashed the Jharkhand government’s order imposing a lifelong 10 per cent cut in pension on retired Assistant Engineer Shyam Nath Dubey.
Dubey, who served in the Water Resources Department, retired on June 30, 2013. Departmental proceedings were initiated against him after his retirement, and following an inquiry into five charges, an order dated July 21, 2015, imposed a permanent 10 per cent deduction from his pension. His departmental appeal was rejected on February 18, 2021, prompting him to approach the High Court.
While hearing the petition, the court observed that merely annexing documents with a charge sheet does not amount to proving the charges. It held that documents must be legally proved before the inquiry officer, which may require the examination of witnesses. In the present case, the state admitted that the charges were held to be proved solely based on documents attached to the charge sheet and that no witnesses were examined.
The court termed this a clear violation of the principles of natural justice and cited a Supreme Court ruling, which states that charges cannot be treated as proved unless the supporting documents are duly validated in accordance with the law.
Consequently, the High Court quashed both the punitive order dated July 21, 2015, and the order rejecting Dubey’s appeal dated February 18, 2021. The state government has been directed to release all consequential benefits to the petitioner, including gratuity, leave encashment, and full pension, at the earliest.