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The Management of M/s D.T.C. vs. Naresh Kumar & Anr. and connected matters

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:7884Decided 16 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 6699/2003, W.P.(C) 7630/2011CNR: DLHC010269902003
Justice Amit Mahajan

Background

Naresh Kumar, a DTC conductor since 1985, was accused in 1991 of not issuing tickets to two passengers who had paid fare, and of refusing to sign the checking challan and misbehaving with the checking staff. He was removed from service in 1992. Two parallel proceedings followed: DTC's own application asking the Industrial Tribunal to approve the removal (which the Tribunal refused), and a separate industrial dispute raised by Naresh Kumar himself (in which the Labour Court also found the removal unjustified and ordered reinstatement without back wages). DTC challenged both rulings in this Court. Naresh Kumar died in 2016 while the case was pending, and his legal representative continued it.

Decision Breakdown

The Court found real defects in DTC's case in both proceedings: crucial documents (including a passenger's written reply) were never supplied to the workman before the enquiry concluded; a defence witness's evidence had been ignored; and, most tellingly, the bus driver, whose signature DTC relied on to show the checking report was valid, testified that his signature had actually been taken on a blank sheet of paper. Combined with the absence of cash verification, the Court agreed the enquiry was unfair and the misconduct unproved, upholding both the Tribunal's refusal of approval and the Labour Court's finding of unjustified removal. However, given Naresh Kumar's death and the case's age, it substituted the earlier reinstatement order with a lump-sum compensation of ₹3,00,000 payable to his legal heirs.

Lesson Learnt

When an employer's own supporting witness (like a bus driver whose signature is relied upon) contradicts the employer's version of events, for instance, by saying his signature was taken on a blank page, that single admission can be enough to sink an otherwise routine misconduct case.

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