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State of Tamil Nadu & Anr. v. M. Mangayarkarasi and Etc.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 1096Decided 26 Nov 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 11345-11346 of 2018
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

Two Treasury officials in Salem, Tamil Nadu, were removed from service after a fraud involving misappropriation of over Rs. 1.22 crore through 257 bogus bills was discovered, with the two of them found responsible for verifying 90 and 105 of those bogus bills respectively (amounts of about Rs. 45 lakh and Rs. 52 lakh). A single judge of the Madras High Court reduced their punishment to a two-year stoppage of increments, reasoning that other employees facing similar charges got only this lighter punishment, and a Division Bench upheld this on the same "parity" ground. The State appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court was wrong to apply the principle of parity, because the chart of comparable cases showed the two employees had verified a vastly larger number of bogus bills and a vastly larger misappropriated amount than the other staff who received lighter punishment, making their cases materially different despite similar-sounding charges. The Court also held that courts exercising judicial review over disciplinary punishments cannot simply substitute what they consider a "just and proper" penalty unless the punishment imposed is shockingly disproportionate to the proven misconduct. It set aside the High Court's judgment on the parity point and sent the writ appeals back to the High Court to decide the other grounds of challenge that had been raised but not yet addressed, directing an expeditious disposal within six months.

Lesson Learnt

Disciplinary punishment imposed by an employer will not be overturned by courts merely by comparing it to punishments given to other employees unless the underlying misconduct and its consequences are truly comparable: the extent and gravity of the specific individual's wrongdoing matters.

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

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