Q: I have been working in the accounts department of a state government undertaking since 2001. In November 2007, a charge sheet was issued against me containing various allegations of misconduct. A departmental enquiry was initiated. The enquiry officer found some of the charges to be true and the disciplinary authority imposed a punishment, putting a freeze on my promotion for two years. I filed an appeal against it before the appellate authority (AA) but subsequently withdrew it. However, the AA continued with the appeal on its own without notifying me and enhanced the punishment by passing an order for removal from service. I feel this is grossly unfair. Do I have a remedy?
Name withheld
A: In my opinion, the AA did not have any valid reason to proceed with the appeal after you filed the application for its withdrawal. Your organisation should have rules / regulations relating to conduct of disciplinary proceedings and appeals arising therefrom. It is unlikely that such rules will empower the AA to enhance the punishment on its own even if there is no appeal from the disciplinary authority. In this connection you may refer to a decision reported in (2003) 6 Supreme Court Cases 247.
In any event, proceeding with the appeal ex-parte without notifying you, after you applied for its withdrawal, violates the principles of natural justice. This would render the decision of the AA bad in law and a nullity. You should file a writ petition against the AA order in the appropriate high court having jurisdiction in the matter. I am hopeful that the high court will quash and set aside the decision of the AA.
Q: In 2004 I took up employment with an interior designing firm registered under the Partnership Act. The firm had four partners. Till 2007 I had no problem. From January 2008, the firm stopped paying my salary. Whenever I requested the partners to release my salary, I would be asked to bear with them for sometime since business was down due to recession. I was promised that my salary, including arrears, would be disbursed soon. I continued to serve the firm in good faith. In November 2008, the partners told me I had been released from service since the partnership had been dissolved. The firm owes me Rs 3 lakh. Is there any way I can recover my dues?
Alokesh Biswas
A: You need not worry about dissolution of the firm. Even though it has been dissolved, the partners of a firm are jointly and severally liable for any debt of the firm and continue to be so even after its dissolution. Your arrear salary surely constitutes a debt of the firm, which the partners of the firm are jointly and individually liable to discharge. You should send a demand notice, if possible a lawyer’s notice, to each of the partners claiming your dues. If your dues are still not paid, you will have to file a money suit against the partners claiming a decree jointly and severally against them in the appropriate civil court having territorial jurisdiction in the matter. If you can prove your claim and obtain a decree, you can execute it against the partners.
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