The punishment of dismissal from service is no less than a death penalty for a Government servant, the Supreme Court observed as it directed the reinstatement of a deputy registrar of Periyar University in Tamil Nadu who was sacked for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar set aside the order of a division bench of the Madras High Court and upheld the decision of the single-judge bench restoring the services of R Saravanan.
The top court said the inquiry report by the one-man commission constituted by the university showed that the appellant has been pronounced guilty without evidence and what could be a worse kind of injustice to him than to “hang him only on hearsay”. It said the division bench interfered with the single-judge bench’s decision without any cogent and justifiable reason.
“The award of punishment of dismissal or removal from service is the harshest measure of punishment and no less than a death penalty for the government servant. It has cascading effects and touches even the family of the employee,” the bench said in its October 16 order.
It said such order of punishment of termination of service entails forfeiture of all service-linked benefits accrued to the govt servant, who is then rendered penniless.