The Supreme Court has ruled that terminating employment without first conducting a disciplinary investigation is against natural justice principles.
The appeal against the Uttarakhand High Court's decision was being handled by the bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta.
The Division Bench of the Uttarakhand High Court denied the appellant's writ petition and review motion in this instance. The appellant had contested the G.B. Pant Institute of Engineering and Technology's decision to terminate their employment as registrar.
The High Court came to the conclusion that the appellant had neglected to provide the minutes of the 26th Board of Governors meeting, which took place on June 16, 2018, and which were mentioned in the letter of termination. The writ was dismissed as a result of this failing, which was seen to be the hiding of significant facts, leading to the dismissal of the writ petition and review application.
The appellant's lawyer, Gautam Narayan, argued that the appellant was neither dishonest or deliberate in failing to record the aforementioned minutes. Referring to the minutes of the June 16, 2018, meeting, he argued that these minutes, in fact, strengthen the appellant's case because they show that the appellant was chosen as the Institute's Registrar when the Board of Governors approved the Selection Committee's recommendations.
Senior counsel for the respondents, Amit Anand Tiwari, argued that the appellant's appointment to the position of Registrar was unlawful in and of itself as he did not meet the requirements set forth in the regulations. It was argued that the appellant's services might be terminated without necessitating a routine inquiry. Because the appellant hid a crucial document in his writ petition that was submitted to the High Court, he was not qualified to get equitable relief under the exceptional writ jurisdiction.
The appellant was chosen for the position of Registrar based on the Selection Committee's recommendations, which the Supreme Court reviewed in the meeting minutes dated June 16, 2018. The Board of Governors had accepted these recommendations. However, a disclaimer was included stating that the appellant's appointment order will be stayed due to some concerns that were received regarding the appellant's candidacy on for the post of Registrar.
The bench looked into termination letter dated 19th May, 2022 and stated that the termination of the appellant from the position of Registrar lacked due process, as there was no opportunity provided for the individual to present their case or any disciplinary proceedings conducted beforehand. Rather than mentioning any wrongdoing or performance concerns, the letter of termination mentioned an investigation into the appellant's suitability for the Registrar role. In addition, the letter contradicts the minutes of the particular meeting by claiming that the Board of Governors did not support the Registrar's choice. The appellant's services were terminated without having a disciplinary inquiry, according to the Supreme Court, which found that this was completely unreasonable, outside the bounds of the law, and a flagrant violation of natural justice principles.
Additionally, the bench declared that the Division Bench of the High Court committed a major mistake when it denied the appellant's writ petition on the extremely technical grounds that the minutes of the 26th meeting of the Board of Governors dated 16th June 2018 had not been placed on record.
In view of the above, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal.
Case Title: Sandeep Kumar v. GB Pant Institute of Engineering and Technology Ghurdauri & Ors.
Bench: Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta
Case No.: Arising out of SLP (C) No(s). 8788-8789 of 2023
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