Caste panel cannot interfere in employer action against employee: Bombay High Court

Caste panel cannot interfere in employer action against employee: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has ruled that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes does not have the jurisdiction to interfere with a decision taken by an employer against its employee.

This was stated by the bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and Kamal Khata in its order while hearing a petition filed by the Union of India through the secretary, Ministry of Defence (MoD). The union was challenging a March 2022 order of the commission directing the ministry to re-investigate the disciplinary action initiated against Nashik resident Chandraprabha Kedare who worked as a staff nurse at Cantonment Board Hospital, Deolali.

The union petition had sought a declaration that the order passed by the commission in March 2022 is null and void and cannot be acted upon.

The bench, while quashing the commission’s order, observed that it had acted totally without jurisdiction. The bench added, “In our view, the commission has no such jurisdiction to interfere with the decision already taken by the employer against Kedare after the following procedure. The commission cannot act as an appellate authority against an order passed by an employer taking disciplinary action against an employee.

An employer has the power to take disciplinary action against its employee and when such action has been upheld in all legal proceedings, then the employee cannot file an application before the Commission, the order added.

The bench quashed and set aside the commission’s order and dismissed the complaint filed by Kedare before the Commission.

Kedare had been compulsorily retired after a departmental inquiry. She alleged that this was done without following due procedure and had approached the commission. In its March 2022 order, the Commission noted that injustice was meted out against Kedare, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste, and that the punishment of compulsory retirement was draconian in nature. The Commission thus asked the MoD to re-investigate the matter.

However, the MoD challenged the order of the commission by stating that it does not have the jurisdiction to interfere with the disciplinary action taken against Kedare.

The court in its order noted that Kedare had exhausted all legal remedies available to her against her compulsory retirement order and when she could not succeed, she had filed an application before the Commission.

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