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Canara Bank v. Kameshwar Singh

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 18Decided 8 Jan 2020
Civil Appeal Nos. 66-67 of 2020
Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Background

The respondent, a Canara Bank officer, was compulsorily retired after a departmental inquiry found him guilty of misconduct; the order of punishment was passed by the General Manager, who was senior to the Deputy General Manager who had been designated the "Disciplinary Authority" for initiating the proceedings. The respondent's appeal and review against the punishment were rejected, and he went to the High Court. The High Court's Division Bench held that only the designated Disciplinary Authority (the Deputy General Manager), not a higher-ranking officer, could impose the penalty, and sent the matter back for reconsideration by the appropriate appellate authority.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the bank's own disciplinary regulations and found that they expressly allowed "the Disciplinary Authority or any other authority higher than it" to impose penalties, meaning the General Manager, being senior to the Deputy General Manager, was fully entitled to pass the punishment order. The Court held the High Court's Division Bench was wrong to rule otherwise, set aside its order, and restored an earlier order of the Single Judge that had remitted the matter to the proper Appellate Authority to decide the respondent's appeal on its merits.

Lesson Learnt

When an organization's own rules allow a higher-ranking officer to exercise the powers of a designated lower authority, disciplinary action taken by that senior officer is valid: employees cannot successfully challenge punishment merely because it was imposed by someone more senior than the officer initially assigned to the case.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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