18 years on, driver gets relief
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A state transport corporation driver, who was dismissed from service following an accident, got a reprieve after 18 years with the Madras high court setting aside the punishment and directing the disciplinary authority to impose less punishment on him after reinstating him into service.
A division bench of Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M. Venugopal dismissed the appeal filed by the managing director, general manager and the enquiry officer, Dheeran Chinnamalai Transport Corporation, against an order of a single judge who allowed the petition from the driver R. Rajendran.
On December 23, 1992, Rajendran was driving a bus from Madurai towards Tiruchirappalli when he tried to overtake a bullock cart. In the process, he hit the bullock cart and a bus travelling in the opposite direction and this resulted in a major accident. The corporation dismissed him from service in 1994.
The bench said that when the inquiry officer had found that the other bus driver had also contributed to some extent to the accident, proceeding only against Rajendran and ultimately dismissing him from service amounts to discrimination and not treating equals equally. There was no explanation from the management why equals were not treated equally.
“We are of considered view that ends of justice would be met if the order of dismissal is set aside and the matter is remitted back to the disciplinary authority for imposing lesser punishment, after reinstating Rajendran into service”, the bench said and ordered stoppage of three annual increments with cumulative effect for the proved delinquency.
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