The Delhi High Court has said "it is obligatory for a government servant to join his duty within a reasonable time after he was declared medically fit" and upheld the dismissal of an IB officer for "unauthorised absence" from service on health ground for about 18 months.
A bench, headed by Justice Pradeeep Nandrajog, allowed the Centre's plea against the Central Administrative Tribunal's (CAT) order setting aside the Disciplinary Authority's 2005 penalty order against P K Modwill, who had worked with State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) Jammu since July 14, 1997, and upheld the findings of an inquiry officer against him.
"The inquiry officer is right in opining that it is obligatory upon the government servant to join his duty within a reasonable time of being declared fit for duty. Surely, the department was not required to send an invitation card to Modwill for joining duty once he was declared fit for duty by the Medical Board.....," the bench, also comprising Justice V K Rao, said.
Following a departmental inquiry report in November 2000, the officer was chargedsheeted for being "unauthorisedly absent" from service from May 6, 1999 to November 13, 2000 and subsequently after recording of the officer's defence in the inquiry proceedings, the Disciplinary Authority had passed the dismissal order against him in September 2005.
Rejecting the officer's argument that he was under the impression that he had written several representations to government about his transfer from Jammu to Delhi due to his ill health, the bench said the officer got promoted to the post of ACIO-I(G) by virtue of his joining SIB at Jammu.
