SC: Confirmed public servant cannot be terminated without inquiry

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.