In Brief
The Supreme Court examined three cases involving compulsory retirement of government servants in Jammu and Kashmir. The respondents were retired based partly on their involvement in criminal cases pending investigation. The Court held that while criminal involvement can be relevant, the Division Bench's orders were flawed on two grounds: (1) both courts assumed the respondents were caught accepting bribes, which was not alleged in any case, creating an incorrect factual foundation; (2) neither court evaluated the retirements against specific efficiency norms required by regulations (timely project implementation for engineers). The Court remitted the matters for reconsideration by the Division Bench on correct premises and with proper application of regulatory standards.
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