Employer cannot deny pensionary benefits solely due to missing service records for periods of satisfactory service.

The applicant, a PP at Bharuch, Western Railway, suffered compound fractures in a 2005 accident

He requested "light job" duties due to his physical inability to perform hard labor, which the respondents purportedly granted in 2006

However, a charge sheet was issued on February 9, 2011, alleging unauthorized absence for 167 days during 2010

Following an inquiry where the applicant claimed illness and physical weakness, the Disciplinary Authority (DA) imposed the penalty of compulsory retirement on February 6, 2012

The Appellate Authority (AA) upheld this on January 11, 2013

While processing retirement benefits, the respondents excluded the service period from February 4, 1985, to April 31, 1995, citing the unavailability of service records, thereby calculating only 15 years of qualifying service

1. Whether the disciplinary proceedings and the resulting penalty of compulsory retirement were vitiated by procedural irregularity or perversity

2. Whether the respondents were legally justified in excluding ten years of the applicant's service from pensionary benefit calculations solely due to the loss/unavailability of official service records

The Tribunal applied Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1965

Regarding judicial review, it relied on B.C. Chaturvedi v. Union of India, establishing that the court does not act as an appellate forum over facts but ensures the decision-making process is free from patent error or perversity

It further cited SBI vs. Ajay Kumar Srivastava and State of Karnataka v. Umesh, reinforcing that judicial review is limited to correcting errors of law, procedural unfairness, or disproportionate penalties

Regarding service records, the Tribunal applied the principle that the maintenance of service records is the sole responsibility of the employer, not the employee

The Tribunal found no grounds to interfere with the disciplinary penalty, noting the applicant was given a full opportunity to defend himself and the inquiry adhered to principles of natural justice

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant cannot be penalized for the respondents' failure to maintain service records for the period of 1985–1995

It held that in the absence of adverse entries for that period, it must be construed that the employee served satisfactorily

Consequently, the decision to calculate qualifying service as only 15 years—excluding a decade of active service—constituted a patent error

It directed the respondents to reconsider and recalculate the applicant’s retirement benefits within six weeks by including the qualifying service from February 4, 1985, to April 31, 1995

The respondents were ordered to rely on available records or "shadow records," and in the absence of adverse evidence, treat the period as satisfactorily completed