After a prolonged legal battle spanning over two decades, the Delhi High Court has rectified a historical error by setting aside the dismissal of Ram Naresh, a former assistant manager of quality control at the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Naresh, who passed away in 2001, was accused of accepting and dispatching substandard rice, which purportedly led to significant financial losses to FCI. The court’s decision comes 23 years after his death, offering closure to his grieving family.
Naresh was dismissed from his position at FCI in 1998 under allegations of colluding with technical assistants to approve and dispatch substandard rice to Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, supposedly for his personal financial benefit. Following his dismissal, Naresh appealed to the appellate authority and later to the Delhi High Court, where his petition was initially dismissed by a single-judge bench in 2013.
His family continued to fight for his honor, leading to the recent ruling by a two-judge bench, consisting of Justices Vibhu Bakhri and Tara Vitasta Ganju, who found significant faults in the departmental inquiry that led to his dismissal. The court highlighted that the inquiry was flawed, notably lacking quantifiable losses and clear evidence of Naresh’s alleged collusion.
The turning point in the case came from the inability of the FCI to consider crucial evidence during the inquiry, including a telegram sent by Naresh in 1996 that reported substandard rice being dispatched. This evidence was crucial in proving his proactive efforts to alert his superiors about the discrepancies, which were ignored in the inquiry proceedings.
Naresh’s widow, Veerbala, expressed profound relief and vindication following the verdict, stating, “The truth is finally out. I knew my husband was innocent.” She reflected on the impact of the long-standing allegations on their family’s dignity and her husband’s legacy.
