MADURAI: Observing that a disciplinary proceeding should be conducted with fairness at a reasonable speed and without predetermining the end result, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday upheld an order passed by a single judge of the court setting aside the dismissal of a bank manager, whose disciplinary proceedings, which ought to have taken months, were concluded in just two weeks.
A bench comprising justices GR Swaminathan and P Vadamalai passed the order on an appeal filed by the authorities of the aforementioned public sector bank against the single judge's order.
In the case on hand, the senior bank manager was issued with a charge memo on July 13, 2013, for procedural lapses in granting loans to some SHGs between 2007 to 2009, which caused a 'possible' loss of over `one crore to the bank.
Though the delinquent official should be granted 15 days to submit his explanation, the inquiry commenced within four days and was completed the very next day, culminating with the dismissal of the official on July 27, 2013, the judges noted.
The judges observed that a disciplinary proceeding should not resemble a point to point bullet train journey that lacks meaningful halts. Such proceedings should be conducted not like a whirlwind but at a reasonable speed and when subjected to judicial review, they should permeate fairness and give an impression that the end result was not predetermined, they added.
Since the charge memo was issued after the expiry of the limitation period and the official had not gained any undue advantage from sanctioning the loan and was only guilty of procedural lapses, the single judge had set aside the dismissal order, they added.
Concurring with the single judge's decision, the judges dismissed the appeal with the above observations.