Supreme Court Restores CAT Reinstatement Order, Directs Release of Benefits to Legal Heirs

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra heard an appeal by the legal heirs of a deceased railway employee challenging the Bombay High Court’s reversal of a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that had quashed his dismissal and directed reinstatement. The appeal arose from allegations of demanding illegal gratification, possession of excess cash, failure to recover fare difference and forgery while the appellant served as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) in Central Railway, Nagpur.

The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court judgment dated 21.09.2017, restored the CAT’s order dated 21.03.2002 quashing the dismissal and directed release of all consequential monetary and pensionary benefits to the legal heirs within three months. The Court noted procedural and evidentiary infirmities in the departmental enquiry and accepted CAT’s interference with the penalty. The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "In the above view of the matter, all the charges have not been found to be proved conclusively against the appellant and CAT, on the basis of the material on record, had rightly interfered with the penalty of dismissal from service against the appellant. The High Court has failed to take note of the legal position that when the findings of the Enquiry Officer were perverse basing on completely misleading of the materials produced before the Enquiry Officer, CAT was fully justified in setting aside the order of penalty. The incident happened on 31.05.1988, that is more than 37 years back. In the meanwhile, the delinquent employee has passed away. Therefore, while setting aside the impugned judgment of the High Court and restoring the order of CAT, we direct that all the consequential monetary benefits including pensionary benefits shall be released in favour of the appellants who are legal heirs of the deceased employee within a period of three months from today. Ordered accordingly." The Court also recorded, "Delay of 519 days is condoned."

Background

The dispute originated from a surprise vigilance check on 31.05.1988 in the Second Class Sleeper Coach of the 39-Down Dadar–Nagpur Express, where the appellant TTE was accused of demanding illegal gratification from passengers — alleged amounts included Rs.25 from Hemant Kumar, unrefunded sums from Dinesh Choudhary and Rajkumar Jaiswal — being found in possession of excess cash of Rs.1,254 (excluding personal and railway cash), failure to recover a fare difference of Rs.18 (Ticket No.444750), and forging a duty card pass by extending its validity without authority. A charge-sheet dated 03.07.1989 under the Railway Services (Conduct) Rules, 1966 was issued and a departmental enquiry followed. The Enquiry Officer submitted a report on 31.12.1995 holding all charges proved; the Disciplinary Authority dismissed the employee on 07.06.1996 and an internal appeal was dismissed on 30.07.1997.

The appellant moved CAT (Original Application No.431 of 1997), which allowed relief on 21.03.2002, quashing the dismissal and directing reinstatement. The respondents challenged this before the Bombay High Court; by interim order CAT’s direction was stayed and, by judgment dated 21.09.2017, the High Court set aside CAT’s order and upheld the dismissal. The delinquent employee died during pendency of proceedings and his legal heirs were substituted and pursued the appeal in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court examined each charge: it found that one primary complainant (Hemant Kumar) was not examined at enquiry and that the other two passengers’ statements did not support the prosecution case. The Court noted absence of documentary proof for the cash possession charge and refusal to rely on a post-incident Railway Board circular; it observed non-production of the excess fare receipt book and the failure to obtain handwriting expert opinion on the alleged forgery. Finding that charges were not proved conclusively and that the Enquiry Officer’s findings were perverse in parts, the Court restored CAT’s order. The appeal was allowed and the Court directed payment of consequential benefits to the legal heirs within three months.

Case Details: Case No.: Civil Appeal No.13017 of 2025 (2025 INSC 1257) Case Title: V.M. Saudagar (Dead) through Legal Heirs v. The Divisional Commercial Manager, Central Railway & Anr. Appearances: (List advocates if available, for both sides using the format) For the Petitioner(s): [Not available in the reported text] For the Respondent(s): [Not available in the reported text]