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The State of Jharkhand & Anr. v. Amresh Narayan Sinha

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 792Decided 22 Jul 2019
Civil Appeal No. 5737 of 2019
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Indira Banerjee

Background

The respondent, a Veterinary Officer, was placed under suspension in 2012 in connection with a CBI corruption case and pending departmental proceedings, which were kept on hold pending the outcome of the criminal trial. After the State revoked his suspension in 2015, he sought full back pay for the suspension period, and both a Single Judge and a Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court directed the State to pay him in full, holding that revocation of suspension itself entitled him to it even while the disciplinary case remained undecided. The State appealed this direction to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court had misread Rule 97 of the Jharkhand Service Code: full pay and allowances for a suspension period are due only if the competent authority, after concluding the disciplinary inquiry, finds the suspension was "wholly unjustified", not automatically merely because the suspension was later lifted. Since the departmental proceedings were still pending, the direction for full pay was premature. The Court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's order, but noted that the salary the State had already paid (under threat of contempt) would remain subject to the competent authority's final decision once the disciplinary inquiry concludes.

Lesson Learnt

Lifting an employee's suspension does not, by itself, create an automatic right to full back pay; that depends on the final outcome of the disciplinary inquiry and whether the suspension is ultimately found to have been unjustified.

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

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