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Pawan Kumar Agarwala v. General Manager-II & Appointing Authority, State Bank of India

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 13448 of 2015)Decided 17 Nov 2015
Civil Appeal No. 13448 of 2015
Justice V. Gopala Gowda · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

A bank officer was charged with helping a borrower obtain a loan from his branch without disclosing an earlier loan, and was removed from service in 2006 after the bank's vigilance officer recommended a major penalty. The Single Judge of the Gauhati High Court quashed the removal because the witness list and documents were never given to him, and ordered reinstatement with 25% back wages. A Division Bench later replaced that with a one-increment reduction and reinstatement without back wages.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the enquiry was vitiated because the rules and natural justice were not followed, including non-supply of the list of witnesses and copies of the documents relied on. The disciplinary authority had also reversed findings on two charges without giving the officer a chance to respond. The Court found discrimination, because a similarly placed branch manager who had facilitated a comparable loan received a much lighter penalty, which is contrary to Article 14 of the Constitution. It set aside the Division Bench's orders on back wages and restored reinstatement with full back wages from the date of removal until superannuation, with the pension already received deducted. The payment was to be made within eight weeks, and the appeal was allowed in those terms.

Lesson Learnt

In a workplace disciplinary enquiry, the employee must be given the witnesses and documents against him, and a penalty that is much harsher than one given to a similar colleague may be discriminatory. Skipping these steps can make a dismissal invalid and entitle the employee to back pay.

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

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