Pension Cuts under Proviso (a), Rule 10(1) of The West Bengal Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules, 1971

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, once an employee retires on attaining age of superannuation, concerned authority has no jurisdiction to pass an order in a disciplinary proceeding […]

Able Disable All People Together I

“Since the inception of mankind, many lacs have suffered from different types of physical handicaps (today about 600 million people suffer from such handicaps). But, many of them overcame all kinds of handicaps and achieved distinctions in various fields. Sarah Bernhardt – French actress was disabled by a knee injury. Her leg was amputated in […]

Section 85 of The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948

Section 85(a)(i)(b) of The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 prescribes punishment for a particular offence as imprisonment which shall not be less than Six Months and fine of Five Thousand Rupees. The proviso empowers Court to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a lesser term “for any adequate and special reasons to be recorded.“ My […]

Stale Claims Before Writ Court

“Writ Court while deciding a Writ Petition is required to remain alive to the nature of the claim and the unexplained delay on the part of the Writ Petitioner. Stale claims are not to be adjudicated unless non-interference would cause grave injustice. In the case at hand, the employee was dismissed from service in the […]

State of West Bengal v. Nemai Chandra Ghoshal

Kunal Chatterji is so deep into the game of litigation, he must be considered an irresistible force. *Esha Bhattacharjee v. Managing Committee of Raghunathpur Nafar Academy, (2013) 12 SCC 649* was a resounding success. But, State of West Bengal v. Nemai Chandra Ghoshal & Anr., [Criminal Appeal No. 970 of 2012] is another feather in […]

Pension is Not a Bounty I

My Lord, What is Pension? “It is a well known principle, pension is not a bounty. The benefit is conferred upon an employee for his unblemished career. In D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, (1983) 1 SCC 305 D.A. Desai, J speaking for the Bench opined: “The antiquated notion of pension being a bounty, a […]

The ‘Far Outweigh’ Standard in Recovery from Employees I

“Orders passed by the employer seeking recovery of monetary benefits wrongly extended to employees, can only be interfered with, in cases where such recovery would result in a hardship of a nature, which would far outweigh, the equitable balance of the employer’s right to recover.” In the following few situations, recoveries by the employers, would […]

Referred to Larger Bench I: The Rules of The Game Principle

In Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation v. Rajendra Bhimrao, (2001) 10 SCC 51 a Two-Judge Bench [Babu and Raju JJ] held, “the rules of the game, meaning thereby the criteria for selection, cannot be altered by the authorities concerned in the middle or after the process of selection has commenced.” In K. Manjusree, (2008) 3 SCC 512 […]

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