In Brief
Dr. V.R. Sanal Kumar, a scientist at ISRO, was dismissed from service without a formal inquiry by invoking security-of-the-State provisions under the Department of Space Employees' Rules. He had proceeded to South Korea for post-doctoral research without permission and maintained unauthorized contact with a foreign university researching rocket propulsion. The Supreme Court upheld his dismissal, holding that when Rule 16(iii) is properly invoked on security grounds, no further judicial review of the President's satisfaction is permissible. The Court found the dismissal justified given the appellant's unauthorized dealings with foreign institutions in strategic research areas and affirmed that such ex parte dismissals require no prior hearing once security concerns are established.
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