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Delhi Transport Corporation vs. Balwan Singh

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:7886Decided 16 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 1239/2017CNR: DLHC010506002017
Justice Amit Mahajan

Background

Balwan Singh worked as a DTC bus conductor from 1978. In 1993 he was accused of collecting fares from seven ticketless passengers without issuing them tickets, chargesheeted, found guilty after a departmental enquiry, and removed from service in 1994. The Labour Court later held the enquiry itself was fair, but softened his punishment from removal to "deemed retirement," restoring his pension. DTC challenged this softening before the High Court, arguing a Labour Court cannot dilute punishment purely out of sympathy once misconduct is proved.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that non-examination of the ticketless passengers does not by itself invalidate the enquiry: credible hearsay evidence from checking staff, corroborated by signed passenger statements, was enough to prove the misconduct on a preponderance of probabilities. It agreed the Labour Court should not have shown leniency on punishment purely on sympathetic grounds once guilt was affirmed, citing Supreme Court rulings that even small-value ticket fraud can justify removal since it is a breach of trust, not merely a monetary loss. However, since the Labour Court's actual interference was limited to preserving pension/retiral benefits (not full reinstatement), the Court chose not to strip that narrow relief away after more than a decade, but capped the total payout at ₹5,00,000, to be released from the sum already deposited with the Court.

Lesson Learnt

Courts will not overturn a fairly conducted enquiry's finding of guilt just because non-central witnesses (like passengers) weren't personally examined: credible circumstantial evidence from supervisory staff can suffice. But once guilt is found, the punishing authority's discretion should not be diluted by a tribunal purely on sympathy grounds.

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