Supreme Court Clarifies That Disciplinary Proceedings To Begin Before The End Of Employee’s Service

[1]The Supreme Court has reiterated that disciplinary proceedings under the United Commercial Bank Officer, Employees (Discipline and Appeal) Regulations 1976 are initiated only after the service of a chargesheet, not a show-cause notice. This decision was made in a case involving a former bank officer who faced disciplinary action post-retirement. The court referred to a number of previous cases and emphasized that disciplinary proceedings can only be invoked if initiated before the end of an employee’s service. In this case, the court noted that the bank officer had reached superannuation on 31.07.1991, while the chargesheet was issued on 07.12.1991. As a result, no disciplinary proceedings were pending against him at the time of his superannuation. The court dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant-bank with costs of Rs. 25,000/- and directed all service benefits due to him along with interest @ 7% per annum from the date of his retirement till the payment is made, shall be paid by the appellant bank to his legal heirs within 3 months.

[1] Civil Appeal No. 8516 of 2011