The Supreme Court holds unauthorized absence for a long time amounts to abandonment of service

The present Civil Appeal No.(s) 4393/2010 emanates from the order of the High Court of Himanchal Pradesh wherein, L.I.C. i.e. appellant’s order for termination of respondent’s service was turned down by the High Court on the ground of not providing due opportunity to the respondent. The appellant had served several notices to the respondent followed by charge sheet cum show cause notice, which remained unanswered by the respondent. It was further contended by the appellant that the respondent absented from duty for 90 days without intimation to the employer and since the notices were unanswered, conducting an enquiry was impossible, therefore the appellant had rightly treated this as an abandonment of service and terminated the respondent. The Supreme Court considering the appellant’s contention set aside the High Court’s order holding appellant’s action to be justified as per the L.I.C. Regulations.