Justice S M Subramaniam observed that as per the provisions of Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016, if a member of a service is punished with censure after the date for preparation of panel but before the actual promotion is granted to the individuals included in the panel, it shall be held against such member(s) of service.

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Court orders on disciplinary matters need caution, says HC
Kaushik Kannan | TNN | Oct 19, 2020, 04:02 IST
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Madurai: Observing that courts are expected to be cautious while granting an order to consider the representation or to dispose of disciplinary proceedings, Madras high court has said that such directions should be issued on merit and taking into consideration the legal grounds.
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Petitioner D Ravindran retired from service on superannuation as deputy collector in 2014. Though he was eligible for promotion as district revenue officer (DRO), he was not included in the panel list in 2011 as two charge memos were pending against him. He filed two separate petitions before the court seeking to conclude the departmental proceedings and subsequently, both the charges against him were dropped. Since the authorities had rejected his promotion on the ground that the punishment of censure was issued to him in 2013, he filed the present petition before HC Madurai bench seeking to promote him to the post of DRO.
Justice S M Subramaniam observed that as per the provisions of Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016, if a member of a service is punished with censure after the date for preparation of panel but before the actual promotion is granted to the individuals included in the panel, it shall be held against such member(s) of service.
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The punishment of censure will have effect for a year and hence the officer is not entitled to promotion within one year of the date of imposition. The judge noted that in the present case, as far as the 2011 panel is concerned, charge memo was pending and at the time it was dropped, the punishment of censure was in force. The manner in which the petitioner was exonerated from the charges reveals that it is a litigious exoneration and was not by defending the charges by participating in the process of inquiry. He filed writ petition after writ petition and finally the charges were dropped, noted the judge.

The judge observed that the courts are expected to be cautious as undue advantage is taken by the litigants in order to escape from the clutches of disciplinary proceedings. “Beyond the pendency of the charges and other aspects, the government has to assess the merits, ability and suitability of the candidates before granting such promotion,” observed the judge