It is not the duty of the Court but the bounden duty of an employer to ensure that the act of the employee is within the contours of the law: Manipur High Court
This Court, by no stretch of the imagination, can direct an employer to proceed disciplinarily action against its employee. Such an opinion was held by The Hon’ble High Court of Manipur before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Mv Muralidaran in the matter of Dr. S. Indra Singh Vs. The State of Manipur and Anr [W.P.(C) No.699 of 2021].
The facts of the case were associated with the petitioner who filed a mandamus writ petition and directed the respondents to suspend seven employees of the Veterinary Department in compliance with Clause (b) of Rule 10(1) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965. The counsel representing the petitioner stated that the petitioner lodged a complaint against seven officers of the Veterinary Department for attacking the petitioner, under Sections 330, 352, 506, 511 and 34 IPC.
The Counsel stated that the petitioner prayed to the respondents to take disciplinary actions against the seven employees, but the requests were not considered and were rejected. The counsel also submitted that the Investigation Officer filed an application to withdraw the final report which was earlier filed and permit him to seek further investigation in the matter. On the other hand, the counsel representing the state contended that no specific threat by the seven employees was referred by the petitioner. The Hon’ble Court opined that a suspension order can be placed upon a Government Servant against whom a criminal proceeding was taken, by the competent authority under Rule 10(1)(b) of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965.
The Hon’ble Court upon hearing all the submissions stated that the appropriate direction would be that the respondent authorities should consider the said request of the petitioner. Therefore, The Hon’ble Court pronounced that “In view of the above, without going into the merits and demerits of the case, this Court is inclined to pass the following orders: (a) The writ petition is disposed of, (b) The respondent authorities are directed to consider the representation of the petitioner dated 1.7.2021 within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, after affording a reasonable opportunity to all concerned…”
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Judgment reviewed by Bipasha Kundu