The Delhi High Court upheld the dismissal of a woman from service guilty of submitting forged documents to their employer.
The Court in its order said, no sympathy or compassion can be shown to Employees guilty of submitting forged documents to their employer.
The bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna was dealing with the plea of a woman, who was earlier given a compassionate appointment in the Bihar Bhawan in the Group IV category after the death of her husband, seeking to set aside a 2014 order by the employer terminating her service.
In 2009, the woman was given a show cause notice on the allegation of creating a nuisance under the influence of alcohol and causing disturbance to others in Bihar Bhawan. The show cause notice also alleged that the petitioner had threatened the staff car driver in the office room of the Assistant Manager. Thereafter, she was suspended vide office order dated September 9, 2009.
Later, in the preliminary inquiry conducted by the Resident Commissioner of Bihar Bhavan, it came to the fore that the certificate submitted by the petitioner in support of her qualification as Class 8th pass issued by the Headmaster, Middle School Kachhuwa, Yogipara, Darbhanga, Bihar, was a forged document.
The court stated, “The submission on behalf of the petitioner that passing Class 8th was not a pre-requisite for compassionate appointment in Group-IV job at the material time, does not hold any water. The fact remains that the petitioner submitted a forged document in support of her educational qualification at the time of seeking compassionate appointment”.
The counsel for the petitioner submits that she was not served with any chargesheet and that “Principles of Natural Justice” were not followed.
Further, it was argued that she was removed unceremoniously without following any process or procedure and that it was only after the dismissal from service that the petitioner came to know of the proceedings before the Enquiry Officer.
The petitioner’s counsel also contended that the genesis and origin of the departmental proceedings are based upon a document, which is manufactured and she was provided with any documents and she never participated in any departmental proceedings.
On the other hand, the counsel for the Bhavan submitted that the action against the petitioner was taken after following due procedure by carrying out departmental proceedings against her.
It was also submitted that she had suppressed material facts and documents from the court and had wrongly contended that she came to know about the disciplinary proceedings only subsequently.
The court noted, “The petitioner has put up a totally false case before this Court that she did not participate in the departmental proceedings or that she was unaware of any departmental proceedings, till she received the termination letter. The documents placed on record on behalf of the respondent clearly show that the petitioner was fully aware of the departmental proceedings against her and that she fully participated in the same”.
“There is a clear finding by the Enquiry Officer that the petitioner has not been able to prove that the certificate of passing Class 8th, as submitted by her, was a genuine document. Rather, the petitioner prayed to the respondent that she may be given time of one year for appearing and qualifying in the Class 8th exam so that she could produce a certificate of passing the 8th class. In the alternative, the petitioner requested that her son may be given an appointment on the basis of eligibility for Class 8th pass”, the court said.
“Employees who are guilty of submitting forged documents to their employer, have to be dealt with in a strict manner. If a person submits forged and fabricated documents, then such a person is certainly unfit to be employed. No sympathy or compassion can be shown to such an employee. Thus, when the charge against the petitioner stands proved, the punishment of dismissal from service imposed by the respondent cannot be faulted with”.
Accordingly, the court dismissed the petition.
Case Title: Kiran Thakur v. Resident Commissioner Bihar Bhavan
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