# SC: Confirmed public servant cannot be terminated without inquiry 2026-08-16T20:22:16+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet (2 source reports) The Supreme Court has ruled that a public servant whose service is confirmed cannot be terminated merely because of an alleged illegality in appointment. A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta held that termination without a departmental inquiry violates Article 311(2) of the Constitution. The Court reinstated a Copyist from Jagatsinghpur, Orissa, whose service was terminated by an administrative order. "Confirmation in service is not a mere administrative formality but it confers upon an employee a substantive status carrying with it enhanced security of tenure," the bench observed. In a separate judgment, the Supreme Court held that an illegal appointment cannot be regularised merely because the employee has continued in service for a long period. A bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan quashed the absorption of four Haryana officers into the Public Works Department, ruling that "illegality cannot be cured and made legal and valid by lapse of time." The Court condemned the "blatant political interference" in their deputation and absorption. The officers were directed to be repatriated to their parent department. The two rulings underscore a distinction between irregularity and illegality in public appointments. While irregularity can be cured, the Court said illegality is void ab initio and cannot be regularised even on sympathetic grounds. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both judgments from the Supreme Court this week address the tenure security of public servants but from opposite directions. The ruling in Debashish Mohapatra protects confirmed employees from summary termination even if their original appointment was allegedly illegal, emphasising constitutional safeguards under Article 311(2). In contrast, the Haryana officers' case holds that even long service cannot cure an illegal appointment made with political interference. LiveLaw presents both rulings as straightforward legal doctrine without political commentary. The apparent tension between the two, protection for confirmed employees versus refusal to regularise illegal hires, is reconciled by the fact that the first case involved a termination without inquiry, while the second involved absorption that was void from inception. The practical implication: public servants whose appointments are challenged may need to rely on procedural safeguards rather than length of service alone. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - livelaw.in (neutral report) Reports multiple rulings as legal updates without editorial slant. - livelaw.in (2) (neutral report) Presents court judgment as legal doctrine, quotes extensively. This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-09-27T06:17:39+00:00. Tags: Article 311, BNSS, Debashish Mohapatra, Justice Vikram Nath, Supreme Court Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/confirmed-public-servant-cant-be-sacked-without-inquiry-supreme-court/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/confirmed-public-servant-cant-be-sacked-without-inquiry-supreme-court/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/