HC fixes one-year cap on disciplinary proceedings

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that all departmental disciplinary proceedings must conclude within a year of initiation, holding that the “court cannot allow the employer to keep the sword of disciplinary action dangling over an employee indefinitely.”

Issuing seven directions, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar said any unexplained or inordinate delay beyond the one-year period would vitiate the proceedings and invite an adverse inference against the disciplinary authority. The ruling came in a case where proceedings dragged on for over 13 years. The petitioner, who retired in 2006, was served a chargesheet in 2009 for an incident dating back to 2002-03. “Curiously, the chargesheet was issued six years after the occurrence of the alleged incident, after the petitioner had retired,” he asserted.

“Every employee facing disciplinary action has a legitimate right to have the proceedings concluded expeditiously. Undue prolongation of proceedings often causes mental agony, financial hardship, and social stigma, even before the charges are proven, which is a punishment in itself,” the court said.

Cautioning against misuse of the power of suspension, Justice Brar ruled: “The provision for suspension in the applicable rules cannot be understood to mean that the employee can be suspended indefinitely… such action ought to be made with due care and after providing reasons for the same.”

“Any procedure which does not ensure the culmination of disciplinary proceedings within a reasonable dispatch would fall foul of Article 21… Timely determination of guilt or innocence is an integral and essential part of the fundamental right to life and liberty,” he said.

The court directed that the chargesheet must be issued within a reasonable period and the entire disciplinary process, including inquiry, punishment, and appeal, must conclude within a year. Administrative Secretaries and heads of Boards and Corporations were asked to conduct quarterly reviews to ensure compliance, while the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana and the Adviser to the Administrator, UT Chandigarh, were told to issue instructions within six weeks and submit compliance reports within three months.