In Brief
An employee of Bank of India challenged a punishment order (reduction of basic pay by five stages) imposed after he applied for voluntary retirement under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2000. The appellant argued that his application was deemed accepted when the Bank failed to pass an order by 31.12.2000, thus ending his employment and preventing the disciplinary action taken in March 2001. The Supreme Court held that the Scheme was partly mandatory for the employee but only directory for the Bank, with no deeming fiction provision. The Bank correctly initiated disciplinary proceedings while the employee remained in service and properly accepted the retirement application only after concluding the disciplinary process on 19.06.2001. The punishment was upheld as just and appropriate.
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