Overview
- The Supreme Court bench, which ruled Friday, allowed Punjab & Sind Bank’s appeal and set aside the Delhi High Court order that had reduced Senior Manager Raj Kumar’s punishment from dismissal to compulsory retirement.
- Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma held that a higher post brings higher accountability, so a senior manager cannot claim the same lighter penalty given to lower-ranked co-workers for the same misconduct.
- Disciplinary findings said the manager worked with a bank officer and a gunman to misappropriate customer funds and tamper with records; the officer received compulsory retirement or a pay cut and the gunman got a salary cut, while the manager was dismissed.
- Reiterating the proportionality standard, the Court said judges should not second-guess disciplinary penalties unless they are so harsh that they shock the conscience or no reasonable person could impose them.
- The ruling clarifies that Article 14’s equality guarantee does not require identical punishment for employees with different rank or duties, signaling deference to internal discipline across workplaces where senior roles carry added trust.