Labour & Service
Bombay High Court Rejects Plea To Restrain PSBs From Disqualifying Candidates On Past Misconduct, Upholds Autonomy In Recruitment Policy
The Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) has held that Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are autonomous entities entitled to prescribe their own eligibility and disqualification criteria and the mere absence of a uniform instruction from the Government of India does not render such conditions arbitrary.The Court observed that it cannot interfere with the recruitment choices of the Banks unless...
Railway Employee With Valid Privilege Pass Is 'Bonafide Passenger' Despite Missing Journey Entries: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that mere non-endorsement of travel particulars on a valid privilege pass held by a railway employee does not, by itself, disentitle the employee from being treated as a bona fide passenger under Section 124A of the Railways Act, 1989. The Court observed that where the pass was valid on the date of travel and there was no evidence of misuse or excess travel...
Rajasthan High Court Dismisses Stale Pension Claim, Raps State For Losing Service Records
The Rajasthan High Court has held that even though loss or misplacement of service records by the State is a serious administrative failure, the same cannot by itself create a substantive right for an employee to get pension. At the same time, the bench of Justice Anand Sharma expressed strong disapproval of the State's plea in the matter that the service records of the petitioner were lost....
Recruitment Rules Can't Defeat Object Of Compassionate Appointment: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has held that compassionate appointment is an exception to the general process of recruitment and undue reliance cannot be placed on the recruitment rules to defeat the object of compassionate appointment. The bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Indrajeet Shukla held,“Suffice to note that the Recruitment Rules are in furtherance of the requirements...
Tribunal Can't Direct Reinstatement Without Considering Pending Criminal Matters: Delhi High Court
A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Madhu Jain held that even if dismissal is set aside in departmental proceedings, reinstatement and service benefits must be decided by the competent authority after considering the employee's subsequent criminal conviction on a different charge. Background Facts The respondent was a Constable in...
Compensatory Allowances Must Be Considered While Computing Overtime Wages Under Section 59 Factories Act : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court held that compensatory allowances such as House Rent Allowance (HRA), Transport Allowance (TA), Clothing and Washing Allowance (CWA) and Small Family Allowance (SFA) form part of the “ordinary rate of wages” for the purpose of calculating overtime wages under Section 59(2) of the Factories Act, 1948.A Bench comprising Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Manmohan dismissed...
Can't Suffer For Official Lapse: Orissa High Court Backs Reinstatement Of Employee Removed For Being Minor During Appointment
The Orissa High Court has recently upheld an order of Administrative Tribunal reinstating a female employee who was removed from service on the ground that she was a minor at the time of appointment, while the minimum eligibility age was 18 years.For confirming the impugned order, the Division Bench of Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad and Justice Chittaranjan Dash reasoned –“In the matter...
“Long-Settled Service Rights”: J&K&L High Court Grants Pensionary Relief To Officers Litigating Since 1986 Over Seniority
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that repeated attempts by the Government and Police Headquarters to reframe and revise seniority lists decades later amounted to administrative patchwork and could not be used to deny long-standing service rights of officers who had been litigating since 1986.A Division Bench comprising Justice Rajnesh Oswal and Justice Rahul Bharti...
Disciplinary Orders Must Show 'Real Consideration' Of Employee's Defence, Not Mechanically Recite “Considered”: Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court has held that merely reciting in the disciplinary order and the appellate order that the records have been “considered” could not be treated as a valid and objective consideration in the legal sense, and was an empty formality. The bench of Justice Anand Sharma further held that since penalty order and appellate order caused serious prejudice to the...
Employer Can't Revise Service Book Post-Retirement To Cover Up Own Lapses: J&K&L High Court Quashes Recovery From Retiree
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that an employer cannot revise service records post-retirement to the prejudice of an employee in order to cover up its own lapses, especially when the employee was not responsible for maintaining the service book and the issue stood settled by an earlier judgment of the Court.The Court was hearing a writ petition challenging the revision...
'Penal Liability Doesn't Pass On To Legal Heirs': J&K&L High Court Quashes Suspension Of Employee Over Father's Corruption Case
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that the suspension of a government employee solely on the basis of criminal proceedings pending against his father is impermissible in law, as penal liability cannot be inherited by legal heirs.The Court was hearing a writ petition challenging an order suspending a Class-IV employee of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly...