Service Law – Removal from Service – Respondent joined the Bank as a messenger – Complaints were received against the respondent for taking bribe for coordination in sanction of loans – Inquiry Officer submitted his report by holding the respondent guilty of acting as a middleman for sanction and disbursement of loans at the branch by taking illegal gratification and his unauthorized absence from duty was also proved – Accepting the report, punishment of ‘dismissal from service’ was imposed upon the respondent – However, the Appellate Authority vide order dated 07.12.2012, reduced the penalty from ‘dismissal’ to ‘removal from service’ with superannuation benefits – Writ Petition filed by the respondent before the Single Bench of the High Court was allowed and he was reinstated with back wages – Intra-Court appeal preferred by the Bank was dismissed – Correctness:
Held: There was no violation of Principles of Natural Justice – Due process was followed during the course of inquiry – The Inquiry Officer appreciated the evidence led by five loanees who categorically deposed that they had paid money to the respondents for coordinating sanction of their loans despite their documents being deficit – The opinion expressed by the Single Bench that the finding recorded by the Inquiry Officer and the Disciplinary Authority were based on conjuncture and surmises, cannot be legally sustained – It is for the reason that if entire evidence is perused, there was no error in the findings record – These were based on preponderance of probabilities and strict proof of evidence beyond reasonable doubt was not required – The proved charge against the respondent was that he was working as a conduit in getting the loans sanctioned – Further, the fact which has been recorded by the Disciplinary Authority, when respondent appeared in response to a show cause notice before imposition of penalty, points towards the direction where he apparently admitted his guilt – Thus, the impugned orders passed by the Single Bench and the Division Bench of the High Court cannot be legally sustained – The same are liable to be set aside – The order passed by the Appellate Authority dated 07.12.2012 imposing punishment of ‘removal from service’ with superannuation benefits stands restored. [Paras 14, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 15]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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