The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal by the Delhi Transport Corporation, directing the state-run transit agency to release back wages withheld from a bus conductor who was penalised over fare manipulation allegations nearly three decades ago.
In an order issued on September 14, Justice Amit Mahajan affirmed an August 2005 industrial tribunal decision that set aside the conductor’s disciplinary punishment. The high court ruled that the corporation failed to submit domestic inquiry records or produce witnesses to substantiate the misconduct allegations.
Absence Of Evidence Vitiates Disciplinary Inquiry
The court noted that the transport corporation did not place before the industrial tribunal either the records of the domestic inquiry or the inquiry officer’s final report concerning the 1998 penalty. Without these documents, the court observed, it was impossible to assess whether the worker had been granted an adequate opportunity to present a defence or if the charges were ever legally established.
Justice Mahajan also observed that the management neither offered to prove the misconduct independently before the tribunal nor produced testimony from checking personnel, reporting officers, or passengers. Because the allegations remained unsupported by primary evidence, the high court held that the tribunal was fully justified in declaring the inquiry vitiated and the resulting penalty unlawful.
Allegations Date Back To 1996 Intercity Route
The dispute originated from a charge sheet issued on May 31, 1996, the same year the conductor began working with the transport undertaking.
According to the management, the conductor committed ticketing irregularities while assigned to a bus travelling from Delhi to Patiala. The corporation alleged that he collected Rs 13 from certain travellers while issuing tickets valued at only Rs 5. In another instance, he allegedly accepted Rs 18 for an Rs 8 ticket, and took Rs 20 while providing a ticket worth Rs 15. The charges further stated that the conductor used abusive language and collaborated with the bus driver in an attempt to injure checking officials.
Decades Of Protracted Litigation
Following an internal departmental inquiry, the corporation issued a penalty order on May 29, 1998, withholding three of the conductor’s annual pay increments. The conductor filed an internal departmental appeal, which was rejected.
He subsequently took the matter to the industrial tribunal, which ruled in August 2005 that the penalty was illegal and unjustified, concluding that he was entitled to full arrears of the withheld pay.
The transport corporation then challenged the tribunal’s finding before the Delhi High Court. During the high court hearings, advocate Manisha Tyagi represented the transport body, while no legal counsel appeared on behalf of the conductor. Upholding the 2005 tribunal ruling, the high court dismissed the corporation’s petition, concluding the nearly 30-year-old dispute.
