After Medical Board Found Him Unfit To Drive, Karnataka HC Orders KSRTC To Consider Low-Vision Driver’s Claim For Enhanced Voluntary-Retirement Benefits

In brief

The question

1. Whether the Corporation was required to consider the petitioner’s case for voluntary retirement under Circular No. 1657 dated 12 November 2019, in light of the Medical Board’s opinion that he could not perform his duties as a driver.

The court held

The Court directed the Corporation to consider the petitioner’s case for bringing his application within the scope of Circular No. 1657 dated 12 November 2019, and to take appropriate action within 12 weeks of receiving the order.

It also directed

The petitioner was held entitled to any consequential benefits flowing from that consideration.

The Court did not itself order voluntary retirement or quantify any benefit.

01Facts

The petitioner, a Corporation driver who had completed 25 years of service, sought voluntary retirement in July 2025, stating that low vision in both eyes and back pain made him unable to perform his driving duties.

¶ 3–4 · pp. 3–4

The Medical Board found that his low vision prevented him from performing his duties as a driver.

¶ 10 · p. 8

The petitioner later sought consideration under the Corporation’s Circular No. 1657 dated 12 November 2019, which provided a voluntary-retirement scheme for specified employees unable to perform their duties.

¶ 6–7 · pp. 6–7

After his service was relieved outside that scheme and his request for consideration was not acted upon, he challenged the establishment order dated 15 December 2025 and endorsement dated 10 February 2026, and sought consideration under the circular.

¶ 1, 7–8 · pp. 2, 7–8

02Issues

i.1. Whether the Corporation was required to consider the petitioner’s case for voluntary retirement under Circular No. 1657 dated 12 November 2019, in light of the Medical Board’s opinion that he could not perform his duties as a driver.

¶ 10–12 · pp. 8–9

ii.2. Whether the petitioner was entitled to a mandamus directing such consideration and consequential benefits.

¶ 12–13 · p. 9

03Law Applied

Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India empower the High Court to issue appropriate writs, including mandamus.

The Court applied the Corporation’s Circular No. 1657 dated 12 November 2019, which revised the voluntary-retirement scheme and provided financial benefits for eligible employees unable to perform their duties, including employees with qualifying disabilities and other employees medically certified as physically incapacitated.

¶ 6 · pp. 6–7

No statute or judicial precedent was relied upon in the order.

04Reasoning

The petitioner’s service history and request for consideration under the circular were undisputed.

¶ 8 · p. 8

The Medical Board had specifically found that his low vision in both eyes rendered him unable to perform the work of a driver.

¶ 10 · p. 8

Given that finding, the Corporation ought to have considered his case under the applicable circular; its failure to do so warranted a mandamus requiring consideration.

¶ 11–12 · p. 9