The Calcutta High Court has held that the termination of a probationary employee on allegations of misconduct is punitive in nature and cannot be sustained unless preceded by a proper enquiry and an opportunity of hearing.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee dismissed an appeal filed by the Board of Governors of the Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering & Technology, thereby affirming the order of a Single Judge which had quashed the termination of the Institute’s Superintendent, Deb Halder, during his probationary period.
The appeal arose from an order dated 3 September 2018 passed in WP 31413 (W) of 2017, wherein the Single Judge had set aside the termination on the ground that it was not based on assessment of competence or efficiency, but on allegations of misconduct, and had been passed without affording the employee an opportunity to explain.
Before the Court, the Institute argued that Halder had suppressed information regarding a prior police case at the time of his appointment and that the registration of another police case in 2015 had caused unrest within the Institute. It further relied on allegations of unauthorised absence from duty and irregularities in a tender process involving approximately ₹2.87 crore to justify the termination.
Rejecting these submissions, the Division Bench upheld the finding that once termination is founded on allegations casting a stigma, it assumes a punitive character, making compliance with principles of natural justice mandatory.
