Palani vs The Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal and The General Manager, Integral Coach Factory

K. Sampath, J.—The Appellant secured employment as Khalasi with the second Respondent railway on the basis of a community certificate

and a school certificate. The community certificate showed that the Appellant belonged to Kattunaickan community, a schedule Tribe. The school

certificate showed that the Appellant had studied in a particular school upto 8th standard. Some discrepancy was noticed in the certificates and

there was a Vigilance Investigation. During the Vigilance investigation the Appellant admitted that the certificates were not genuine and that they did

not relate to him. During the enquiry it was found that the community certificate was not fabricated but the school certificate did not relate to the

Appellant. A charge memo was issued and the first authority namely, the Assistant Works Manager found the Appellant guilty of the charge in

respect of production of false school certificate and not guilty of the charge that he had falsely stated that he belonged to Kattunaicken Community.

However, the Works Manager who was the Appellate Authority held that the Appellant was guilty of both the charges and imposed the

punishment of removal from the service. However, the Additional Chief Mechanical Engineer on humanitarian grounds decided to set aside the

penalty of removal from service imposed on the Appellant and reduced the punishment to that of reduction to lower post of Khalasi in the scale of

Rs. 196-232. However, the Revisional Authority re-imposed the penalty of removal from service holding that the Appellant had secured

employment by producing false certificate.

As against this an Industrial Dispute was raised by the Appellant and the Industrial Tribunal found that the charge relating to the school certificate

had been established and that the order of removal from service could not be taken exception to. Nearly five years after the Award was passed by

the Tribunal the Appellant filed W.P. No. 4624 of 1997. The learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition on the ground of laches by order

dated 3.4.1997. As against this order the present writ appeal has been filed.

Apart from laches, in our considered opinion, even on merits the Appellant does not have a case. The Appellant had relied on false documents

to secure employment. In respect of the school certificate it had been found by all the Authorities that it did not relate to the Appellant and that the

Appellant did not even study in that the Appellant school. The learned Counsel for the Appellant submitted that during the course of the

proceedings before the Tribunal the Appellant had produced another school certificate which showed that he had studied in another school up to

7th standard. The counsel has not been able to show as to whether 7th standard was enough to make the Appellant eligible for appointment as

Khalasi. Even otherwise, the Appellant is not entitled to any indulgence whatsoever particularly, when he had secured employment on the basis of

a false certificate. In any event the certificate did not relate to him at all. The Appellant was guilty of grave misconduct and the punishment of

removal from service cannot be taken exception to. In these circumstances, the writ appeal fails and the same is dismissed.