Supreme court said considering the findings of procedural lapses, the appropriate punishment could only be a minor penalty and not a major penalty. Click here to read Judgement
Setting
aside compulsory retirement of a postal department officer for
procedural lapses in discharge of duties, the Supreme Court on Thursday
said that anyone can make mistakes and the consequences of mistakes
should not be unduly harsh.
A
bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said
considering the findings of procedural lapses, the appropriate
punishment could only be a minor penalty and not a major penalty.
The
court upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal's decision terming the
punishment of compulsory retirement against R Balasubrahmanyam as
unduly harsh and shockingly disproportionate as none of the bribery
charges against him had been found sustainable
The
court directed that the order of the disciplinary authority was set
aside with a direction to impose an appropriate minor penalty within
eight weeks.
"The
nature of charges found against the officer can hardly be one to call
for a major penalty, keeping in mind that there was no bribery charge,"
the court added