Karnataka HC Revives Conductor’s Five-Year Minimum-Pay Penalty for Taking Fares Without Tickets, Says Tribunal Could Not Alter Minor Penalty

The respondent, a conductor employed by the petitioner-Corporation, was found guilty in a disciplinary inquiry of collecting money from passengers without issuing tickets.

The Disciplinary Authority imposed a penalty reducing his basic pay to the minimum of the conductor’s scale for five years without cumulative effect.

On the respondent’s industrial dispute, the Industrial Tribunal upheld the finding of misconduct but modified the penalty to withholding one increment for five years without cumulative effect.

The Corporation challenged that modification by writ petition.

The Court applied Section 11A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, holding that, in the circumstances of this case, it did not empower the Tribunal to interfere with the minor penalty imposed by the Disciplinary Authority.

It relied on N.E.K.R.T.C. Bidar v. Shantveer s/o Karabasappa Jankatti and Divisional Controller of KSRTC v. Sri G. Kenchappa, which held that a Tribunal could not substitute its own punishment for a minor penalty where misconduct had been affirmed.

The former decision also referred to Workmen of Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co. of India (Pvt.) Ltd. v. The Management.

The Tribunal had expressly found that the misconduct was established, yet it replaced the Disciplinary Authority’s penalty with a lesser one.

Applying the cited decisions, the Court held that Section 11A did not authorize that substitution in this case because the penalty imposed was a minor penalty.

It therefore concluded that the Tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction in modifying the punishment.

It set aside the Industrial Tribunal’s award dated 28 October 2011 in I.D. No. 311/2009, with the result that the Disciplinary Authority’s punishment dated 30 May 2009 revived.

There was no order as to costs.