Introduction
The client, a clerk in a state department, received a charge-sheet alleging irregularities in a file he had processed. The documents relied upon were listed but never supplied, and the enquiry proceeded on their basis.
He engaged us at the charge-sheet stage, which is where the case was decided.
The Approach
The reply recorded, rule by rule, the documents demanded and not supplied, and the prejudice caused. When the enquiry report and the punishment order followed without addressing the point, the departmental appeal repeated it. The writ petition before the Lucknow Bench was short: it placed the reply, the report and the order side by side.
The order was set aside for violation of the principles of natural justice, with liberty to the department to proceed afresh in accordance with the rules.
Testimonial
“My reply was drafted with the rules quoted line by line. The writ that followed was short because the record was already made.”
Results
Order set aside
Punishment order quashed for breach of natural justice
Relief granted
Reinstatement with consequential benefits directed
Service cases are won at the reply stage. Everything the High Court needed to see had been written eight months earlier.
Illustrative matters. Facts, names and identifying details have been changed or combined to protect client confidentiality. No outcome in any past matter is a promise about any future matter.
When To Call Sarvā Nyāy
If you are facing something like this, the first conversation is about what to preserve and where to file. It is without charge and without obligation.
