Suspension is not punishment, says HC

Upholding the order of a single judge who had dismissed a petition filed by a deputy tahsildar challenging his suspension from service, the Telangana High Court made it clear that under Rule 8 of the Telangana civil services (classification, control and appeal) Rules, 1991, an employee can be suspended either if a criminal case is pending or if a departmental inquiry is contemplated. 

“Suspension is not a punishment. It is merely suspending the relationship between the employer and an employee”, a division bench observed. The bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice T Vinod Kumar passed the order recently in an appeal filed by P Narasimha Chary, former deputy tahsildar in Jagtial district.

The petitioner’s counsel said the police had registered a criminal case against Chary based on a complaint, and the allegations made relate to the 2005-06 period. In July this year, the government suspended Chary about 14 years after the developments. Aggrieved, Chary moved the High Court.The bench said that an FIR has been registered against the petitioner. Both the conditions — criminal case and departmental enquiry, prescribed under the Rules, 1991, are fulfilled, the bench said, while dismissing the appeal.