Setting aside termination preserves continuity of service and entitlement to pensionary and retiral benefits.

The employee, serving as Principal of the respondent college on probation, was issued a show-cause notice dated 15 July 2009 alleging misconduct. After considering his reply dated 21 July 2009, the college terminated his services. The Education Tribunal dismissed his challenge on 17 May 2011, and his review was dismissed on 1 July 2011.

The Single Judge set aside the Tribunal’s order and the termination, while granting the college liberty to conduct a fresh inquiry within eight weeks. Both the employee and the management filed Letters Patent Appeals: the employee challenged the denial of back wages, continuity of service, and the liberty to hold a fresh inquiry, while the management challenged the setting aside of the termination.

During the proceedings, the employee was suspended on 14 November 2018, but the inquiry could not be conducted due to an interim stay. He superannuated in December 2019 and died on 8 December 2020; his legal heirs were brought on record. His son subsequently died on 15 September 2021, and the appeal was prosecuted by the surviving legal heirs.

The employee had rendered approximately 27 years of service in grant-in-aid colleges, including service as Principal.

Whether, after the employee’s death, the proposed fresh disciplinary inquiry and the challenges concerning the liberty to conduct such inquiry survived?

Whether setting aside the order of termination entitled the deceased employee and his legal heirs to continuity of service, pension, family pension, back wages, and other retiral benefits?

Whether the management’s challenge to the order setting aside the termination required adjudication after the employee’s death?

The Court applied the principle that where an employee dies during pending proceedings, a proposed disciplinary inquiry concerning personal misconduct cannot ordinarily be conducted or brought to a conclusion, and the consequential issue of such inquiry may become infructuous.

It further applied the principle that once an order of termination is set aside, the employer–employee relationship is treated as continuing, subject to the relief considered appropriate in the circumstances.

Continuous qualifying service in grant-in-aid and pensionable employment supports entitlement to pension and corresponding family pension. Back wages are not automatic and may be denied having regard to the passage of time and the overall circumstances.

The Court held that the employee’s death made it impossible and unnecessary to conduct a fresh inquiry into the alleged misconduct; consequently, the competing challenges concerning the liberty to hold such inquiry no longer survived.

Since the termination had been set aside, the employee was deemed to have remained in service, including during the period in which he was placed under suspension, until his superannuation.

The Court noted that he had rendered nearly 27 years of continuous service in pensionable grant-in-aid institutions and therefore treated his entitlement to pension as established.

However, considering the considerable passage of time, it declined to award arrears of wages for the period during which he remained out of service.

Instead, it granted the consequential benefits of continuity of service, pension, family pension, gratuity, leave encashment, and other permissible retirement benefits.

The Court directed the State to grant pension to the deceased employee from the date of his superannuation until his death and thereafter family pension to his widow.

The widow was also held entitled to gratuity, leave encashment, and other admissible retirement benefits arising from the setting aside of the termination.

No arrears of wages were awarded.

The respondent college was directed to submit the employee’s service registers to the State for verification and settlement of pensionary and retiral benefits, which were to be paid within 12 weeks from receipt of the judgment.

The State could require the widow’s presence for completing pension formalities.

The pending civil applications were consigned to record.