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R. Saravanan v. Periyar University rep. by its Registrar & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1136Decided 16 Oct 2026
Civil Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 4216 of 2020
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra · Justice Shree Chandrashekhar

Background

A University Deputy Registrar was removed from service in 2013 after a One-Man Commission found him guilty of influencing a college affiliation, owning an undisclosed house, and buying a car beyond his known income. The High Court's writ Court quashed the removal as unsupported by evidence, but a Division Bench (Letters Patent Bench) reversed that and restored his removal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court restored the writ Court's order, holding the Commission's findings were built on conjecture: the affiliation charge rested only on the appellant "could have" influenced the decision, with no actual proof. A finding with no evidentiary basis is legally "perverse" and subject to certiorari. The Court also held that a Letters Patent Bench cannot interfere with a writ Court's discretionary decision merely because it would have taken a different view, only a "demonstrably erroneous" finding with a glaring error justifies interference.

Lesson Learnt

A government employee cannot be removed on the strength of a disciplinary inquiry resting on suspicion rather than actual evidence; separately, an intra-court appeal bench cannot substitute its own view for a writ judge's reasoned decision absent a clear, glaring error.

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

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