Chandigarh, Nov 01: More than nine years after a judicial officer was dismissed from service with immediate effect, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed and set aside the order.
The Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti also quashed an earlier order reverting the officer as Civil Judge Junior Division from the post of Additional Civil Judge Senior Division.
Resultantly, the petitioner is ordered to be forthwith reinstated in service along with all consequential benefits except monetary,” the Bench ruled, while allowing the petition filed against the State of Punjab and another respondent by officer Sangeet Pal Singh.
The Bench ruled that the impugned order dated March 10, 2015, asserted the reversion order, serving as the foundation for the dismissal order, included adverse remarks entered in the annual confidential report that violated the principles of natural justice.
DB added that the petitioner was neither granted an opportunity for a personal hearing regarding the adverse remarks in the ACR, nor was he provided the material justifying the remarks. The lack of opportunity effectively disabled the petitioner from contesting the remarks with a cogent rebuttal, leading to the conclusion that he was condemned unheard.
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