Principles of Natural Justice – Intricate inquiry procedure may result counterproductive – School is unable to punish an employee who has committed gross misconduct of sexually assaulting minor girl.
Judgment dated 5.12.2023 in W.P.No.4232 of 2022 of President / Secretary, Uttar Bhartiya Education Society and another Vs. Naresh Tejan Thakur and another.
Principles of Natural Justice – Intricate procedure of domestic inquiries result counterproductive – Employer is unable to punish an employee who has committed misconduct.
Peon working in a school, accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl and terminated from service, was directed to be reinstated in service.
Respondent no.1 was appointed as Peon on 11.12.1996 in the school of the petitioners. On 22.3.2014, the FIR was registered against the respondent no.1 for sexually assaulting minor girl. He was arrested on 22.3.2017 and released on 4.5.2018. He was suspended and initiated departmental inquiry.
By the order dated 15.3.2019, the respondent no.1 was terminated from the service. This was quashed by the School Tribunal by the order dated 11.1.2022.
HELD that the finding of the School Tribunal that there was violation of the Rules 36(1) and (2) of the Rules are not sustainable. In every case, the termination would not be illegal for failure to supply inquiry report.
Justice means justice between both the parties. The interests of justice equally demand that the guilty should be punished and that the technicalities / irregularities do not occasion failure of justice and are not allowed to defeat ends of justice. The principles of natural justice are but the means to achieve the ends of justice. They cannot be perverted to achieve the very opposite end. That would be a counter-producti9ve exercise.
