The single-judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that when an employee is guilty of misappropriation of amount the quantum of amount is immaterial. The loss of confidence of the employer on the employee would have to be dealt appropriately by imposing appropriate punishment.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the Petitioner was working as a conductor in the corporation/Respondent. Five people were discovered to be intoxicated and traveling on reissued tickets when the checking officials conducted a check. Thereafter, the Petitioner was charged with cash and ticket irregularities and was also removed from service. Furthermore, the appeal and review were filed before the competent authorities of the respondent/corporation but in vain. Then, the case was filed before the labour court which resulted in the present petition.
Contentions of the Petitioner
The Petitioner contended that the fact that the five passengers on the bus were extremely aggressive and intoxicated should have been taken into account by the respondents. Aside from that, the petitioner was ill and was unable to keep the drunk and disorderly passengers under control.
The Petitioner relied upon the judgments titled S.Pulla Reddy Vs. Depot manager, APSRTC, Cuddapah Dist. and Anr, K.Rama Rao Vs. APSRTC, Rep.by its Managing Director, Hyderabad and others, and Depot Manager, A.P.S.R.T.C Vs. M.Narasaiah.
Contentions of the Respondent
The Respondent contended that the labour court has taken all the material evidence into the record which clearly indicates that the Petitioner was responsible for all the charges levelled against him.
The Respondent relied upon the judgments titled APSRTC, Hyderabad and another Vs. K.Rama Rao and another, and Union of India and Others Vs. P.Gunasekaran.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble Court observed that the punishment of removal from the service was imposed after conducting a thorough inquiry.
It was furthermore observed that the law is very clear that the amount of money that is misappropriated by an employee does not matter in cases where the employee is guilty of misappropriation of the amount. The loss of confidence of the employer in the employee would have to be dealt with appropriately by imposing appropriate punishment.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the view that the scope of this Court in either re-appreciating the evidence before the enquiry officer or re-assessing the quantum of punishment imposed by the disciplinary authority does not arise in the present case.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court dismissed the writ petition.
Case title: V. Thimanna Vs The Apsrtc Rep By Its Managing Director and Others
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Harinath. N
Case No.: WRIT PETITION NO: 11592/2012
Advocate for the Petitioner: Sri.S M Subhan
Advocate for the Respondent: Sri.M Solomon Raju
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