Gopal Prasad was appointed as Calligraphist-cum-Assistant of the Bihar School Examination Board on 20.05.1970, at about 15½ years of age. He may have been a minor, but certainly not a toddler. It is absurd that any rational employer, far less a statutory body, would appoint a toddler. The hypothesis of appointment of a toddler is […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XXIII: Consequential Benefits of Gopal Prasad"“State of U.P. v. Sri Shyam Lal Sharma, (1971) 2 SCC 514 laid down various propositions regarding the implication and effect of the orders of compulsory retirement in the following terms. “First, in ascertaining whether the order of compulsory retirement is one of punishment it has to be ascertained whether in the order of compulsory […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray XLIII"“S. Ambika Devi entered into a tripartite agreement with M/s. Nandan Biomatrix Ltd. and its franchisee M/s. Herbz India. She purchased 750 kilograms of wet musli at the rate of Rs. 400/- per kilogram. M/s. Nandan Biomatrix Ltd was to buy back the produce at a minimum price of Rs. 1,000/- per kilogram. It […]
Read more "Harassment of Agriculturists"“The right to property [Article 31(1)] covers the right of a public servant to receive pension [Deokinandan Prasad, (1971) 2 SCC 330; D.S. Nakara, (1983) 1 SCC 305]. Even after the repeal of Article 31(1) [The Constitution (Forty-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 w.e.f. 20.06.1979] the right to receive pension has been held to be a right […]
Read more "Pension is Not a Bounty II"“It is settled law that the State Government cannot be directed to provide reservations for appointment in public posts [C.A. Rajendran, (1968) 1 SCR 721]. Similarly, the State is not bound to make reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in matters of promotions. However, if they wish to exercise their discretion and make such […]
Read more "Reservation in Appointment/Promotion"“Erusian Equipments and Chemicals Ltd. v. State of West Bengal, 1975 (1) SCC 70 and Raghunath Thakur v. State of Bihar, 1989 (1) SCC 229 as well as Southern Painters v. Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Ltd., 1994 Supp (2) SCC 699; Grosons Pharmaceuticals (P) Ltd. v. State of U.P.,(2001) 8 SCC 604 and B.S.N. Joshi […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray XXXV"“The circumstances under which an employee can withdraw the resignation tendered by him and what are the limitations to the exercise of such right, have been dealt by this Court in a number of decisions. It is well settled that normally, until the resignation becomes effective, it is open to an employee to withdraw his […]
Read more "Prospective Resignation"“Sitaram was functioning as Head Constable. A carbine was issued to him. It is alleged that, on 18 February, 1998 at about 0945 hours, while he was cleaning the barrel of his loaded 9 MM carbine in the barracks, he did not remove the magazine and proceeded to clean the carbine carelessly. As a result, […]
Read more "Disciplinary Proceedings"“Respondent who was working with State Bank of India at Puducherry was discharged from service for an offence involving moral turpitude. Whether an offence involves moral turpitude or not depends upon the facts and the circumstances of the case. Ordinarily, the tests that can be applied for judging an offence involving moral turpitude are: a) […]
Read more "Moral Turpitude II"“Learned Counsel relied upon Ranchhodji Chaturji Thakore, 1996 (11) SCC 603 and Jaipal Singh, 2004 (1) SCC 121 to contend that in case the criminal proceedings are initiated at the behest of the employer, and the employee is acquitted, he would be entitled to claim full wages for the period he was kept out of […]
Read more "Back Wages II"Daya Kishan Joshi, (2018) 11 SCC 642; Surendra Pandey (2015) 13 SCC 625; Lord Denning. “He fell off the roof of the bus accidentally and died. Merely because the deceased was coming down the roof of the bus after having his meal, cannot be considered in isolation and interpreted so myopically to hold that he […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Notional Extension"45 Years of E.P. Royappa Determination of Equation of Pay Scales: Government, Experts; Not Courts [SAIL, (2011) 11 SCC 122; S.C. Chandra, (2007) 8 SCC 27]. Determinative Factors in Equation of Posts: a) Prescribed Minimum Qualification; b) Nature and Duty [E.P. Royappa, (1974) 4 SCC 3]; c) Responsibility and Power; Salary [P.K. Roy, AIR 1968 SC […]
Read more "Principle of Parity II / The Revival of Ray XI"“Equality means parity of treatment under parity of conditions. The rule of parity is the equal treatment of equals in equal circumstances.” – Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Justice A.N. Ray, State of Kerala v. N.M. Thomas, AIR 1976 SC 490. “The imposition of a penalty in disciplinary proceeding lies in the sole domain of […]
Read more "Principle of Parity I"“The Appellants are daily rated workers employed in Group ‘D’ posts in the Forest Department in the State of Uttar Pradesh. They filed Writ Petitions before the High Court of Allahabad seeking regularization of their services, the minimum of the pay scales available to their counterparts working on regular posts and treating them as being […]
Read more "Minimum Pay Scales for Temporary Employees"“In some cases, a Court may decline to award back wages in its entirety whereas in some cases, it may award partially. The questions, how a back wage is required to be decided, what are the factors to be taken into consideration, on whom the initial burden lies etc. were elaborately discussed in several cases […]
Read more "Back Wages I"Dio non fa mai retromarcia con il suo amore Offences involving ‘moral turpitude’ were in discussion recently in Union Bank of India v. C.G. Ajay Babu, [Civil Appeal No. 8251 of 2018]. You may read Section 4(6)(b) of The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. ‘Moral turpitude’ describes conducts which are: inherently vile, depraved; immodest; shameful and wicked [Pawan Kumar, (1996) 4 SCC 17 and Sushil […]
Read more "Moral Turpitude I"“The Mayo College, Ajmer is an educational institution founded in 1875 by Sir Richard Southwell Bourke, the 6th Earl of Mayo, who was also the Viceroy of India from 1868 to 1872. It is one of the oldest educational institutions which was set up as a public boarding school, offering admission to the then elite. […]
Read more "The Mayo College, Ajmer"“Purposive interpretation in a social amelioration legislation is an imperative, irrespective of anything else. This is eloquently brought out in the case of Atma Ram, (1988) 4 SCC 284. How labour legislations are to be interpreted has been stated and restated by this Court time and again. In Surendra Kumar, (1980) 4 SCC 443, this […]
Read more "Etymological Excursions in Bread & Butter Statutes"Clearly ignoring The ‘Far Outweigh’ Standard in Recovery from Employees, the SC has ruled recently in High Court of Punjab & Haryana v. Jagdev Singh, [Civil Appeal No. 3500 of 2006] that even though recovery from retired employees, or employees who are due to retire within one year of the order of recovery, is impermissible, […]
Read more "The ‘Far Outweigh’ Standard in Recovery from Employees II"Justices A.K. Goel and A.M. Khanwilkar have allowed State of West Bengal v. Aswini Kumar Mahato, [Civil Appeal No. 4689 of 2011] against a Calcutta High Court Order in which it was held that once an employee retires on attaining the age of superannuation, the concerned authority has no jurisdiction to pass an order in […]
Read more "Pension Cuts under Proviso (a), Rule 10(1) of The West Bengal Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules, 1971"