Supreme Court reinstates Class-IV employee sacked for sending representations directly to senior authorities

New Delhi, February 17

Holding that a Class-IV government employee can’t be sacked merely because he sent representations directly to superior authorities bypassing the proper channel, the Supreme Court has set aside the termination of an employee of Bareilly district court.

“A Class-IV employee, when in financial hardship, may represent directly to superiors but that by itself cannot amount to major misconduct for which punishment of termination from service should be imposed,” a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice PK Mishra said ordering reinstatement of petitioner Chhatrapal.

He was dismissed from service for sending direct representations to the Registrar General of the Allahabad High Court and other officials of the Uttar Pradesh Government, including the Chief Minister.

Even otherwise, the appellant has cited examples of other employees of the Bareilly district court who sent representations directly to senior authorities but no action was taken against them, it said, setting aside an order of the Allahabad High Court which had in 2019 dismissed his petition challenging the dismissal.

Appointed on a permanent basis as an orderly, a Class-IV post, in the Bareilly district court, Chhatrapal was later transferred and posted as process server in the Nazarat of an outlying court of Bareilly.

Even after joining the Nazarat Branch, he was being paid the remuneration of an orderly. Following several direct representations to senior authorities, he was placed under suspension in June 2003 and a departmental enquiry was initiated against him.