The Himachal Pradesh High Court held in accordance with previous precedents of the Supreme Court that no disciplinary inquiry can be initiated and subsequently continued after the retirement of the employee. It was also highlighted that any inquiry that was initiated before retirement shall continue as it is, but the punishment shall change.
Brief Facts:
The present petition challenges a memorandum by the respondents which initiated disciplinary proceedings after the retirement of the petitioner from the service due to attaining the age of superannuation.
Observations of the Court:
The Court observed through a series of previous precedents that the corporation had no authority to initiate and subsequently continue departmental proceedings against the petitioner. This was so because the petitioner had retired, and there was no master-servant relationship between the petitioner and the respondents. The court cited numerous cases according to which, any departmental inquiry of charge sheeted procedure which begins before the retirement of the employee shall continue post-retirement, but the nature of the punishment would alter as termination of employment would no longer be an option. In the given case, the departmental inquiry had been initiated post-retirement, thus making the action illegal.
The decision of the Court:
The petition was allowed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court and any action/order in furtherance of departmental inquiry or chargesheet was ordered to be quashed and set aside.
Case Title: Bir Singh & Anr. vs H. P. State Forest Dev. Corp. Ltd. & Ors.
Coram: Honourable Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan; Honourable Justice Virender Singh
Case No.: CWP No. 7527 of 2022
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. Rakesh Kumar Dogra
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. Rajesh Verma
Read Judgment ;
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