HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad High Court has set aside the orders terminating the services of petitioners’ employees by the Cotton Corporation of India since the orders were issued without conducting a departmental enquiry into the allegations levelled against them.
Justice M S Ramachandra Rao was passing this order in a batch petitions by several employees, who are probationers in the post of junior cotton purchasers, challenging the action of the CCI in terminating their services on the ground that they have submitted false experience certificates and for directing refund of the salary received by them from the date of their appointment till the date of termination.
The petitioners contended that the termination of their services as a probationer by the CCI is not valid since the order terminating their services as a probationer is stigmatic and is the foundation for termination of service.On the other hand, the respondent corporation, in its counter affidavit, has not disputed with that the petitioners are probationers. It stated that their confirmation was subject to verification of genuineness of certificates submitted by them. It was found that the certificates are false and explanation furnished by them was not convincing and satisfactory. Hence the corporation was entitled to terminate their services after calling for their explanation and no further enquiry is warranted, it noted.
After hearing both the sides and perusing the material on record and judgments of various courts, the judge held that it is not open for the corporation to terminate services of those employees without conducting a departmental enquiry into the allegations levelled against them. There is a live nexus between the alleged misconduct and the termination of service,” the judge observed.