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State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. v. Krishna Bahadur Singh

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 488Decided 17 Sept 2021
Civil Appeal No. 5748 of 2021
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice S. Ravindra Bhat · Justice Bela M. Trivedi

Background

The respondent, a Lower Division Clerk in the UP Revenue Department, was suspended in 1986 over allegations of misappropriating government funds. He initially participated in the departmental enquiry but later remained absent (ex parte), and in 1988 he was terminated from service. His departmental appeal and revision against this were both dismissed. Almost 11 years after the punishment, he filed a claim petition before the State Public Service Tribunal challenging the termination; the Tribunal ruled in his favour in 2013, and the High Court upheld the Tribunal's decision in 2017, prompting the State's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the respondent's challenge, filed roughly 11 years after the original punishment order, should have been dismissed on the ground of delay alone, regardless of its merits. It set aside both the Tribunal's and the High Court's orders and dismissed the original claim petition. However, taking into account the long period of litigation the respondent had already gone through, the Court directed the State to pay him Rs. 1,00,000 as an ex gratia payment within six weeks.

Lesson Learnt

Even a potentially valid grievance against a disciplinary order can fail if it is not raised within a reasonable time: unexplained, decade-plus delay in approaching a tribunal or court can be fatal to the claim on its own, independent of the underlying merits.

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

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