MP HC Quashes Collector’s Order Telling Panchayat To Terminate Employee Solely Because FIR Was Registered

The petitioner challenged the Collector’s order dated 4 July 2008 directing the Gram Panchayat to pass a resolution terminating his services.

The direction followed registration of Crime No. 65/2007 against him.

The petitioner argued that the Collector could not direct termination and that registration of an FIR alone did not justify removal. He relied, among other things, on a Coordinate Bench decision in a similar matter.

The Court exercised its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Registration of a criminal case, by itself, does not justify termination of service and the competent authority must act in accordance with applicable law and follow the prescribed procedure.

A Collector acting as appellate/revisional authority cannot usurp the Gram Panchayat’s powers or deprive the employee of statutory remedies, and action must comply with natural justice.

The impugned order was based on the registration of Crime No. 65/2007, not on a determination that the petitioner had been convicted.

The Collector could not require the Gram Panchayat to terminate the petitioner within one month without the procedure prescribed by law.

Applying the reasoning of the Coordinate Bench, the Court concluded that the direction exceeded the Collector’s authority and could not be sustained.

It left the respondents at liberty to take appropriate action in accordance with law if the petitioner had been convicted in Crime No. 65/2007.