In Brief
Three bank employees (K.C. Sareen, V.K. Bhatia, and K.S. Thukral) were dismissed following criminal convictions for corruption offences under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. They were later acquitted by the Supreme Court. Upon reinstatement, they sought full back-wages from dismissal to reinstatement, but the bank refused. The High Court ordered full back-wages; the Supreme Court disagreed. It held that while acquittal overturns the conviction requiring reinstatement, it does not retrospectively nullify all consequences. The Court awarded 50% of back-wages, balancing justice with the principle that acquittal does not erase all effects of the (later-overturned) conviction order."
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