In Brief
A Railway Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) was dismissed in 1996 following a departmental inquiry that found him guilty of demanding bribes, possessing excess cash, failing to recover fare, and forging a duty pass. The Central Administrative Tribunal quashed the dismissal, but the High Court reversed this decision. The Supreme Court held that the inquiry was fundamentally flawed: the primary complainant was never examined, making his statement unreliable; other complainants contradicted the charges; and key evidence (receipt books, handwriting expert opinion) was absent. The Court allowed the appeal, restored the CAT's order quashing the dismissal, and directed payment of all monetary and pensionary benefits to the deceased employee's legal heirs within three months, reaffirming that disciplinary findings unsupported by credible evidence violate natural justice.
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