New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said undue sympathy cannot be shown towards a delinquent public officer, by reducing punishment, since he deposited the defrauded amount with penal interest.
A bench comprising Justices M R Shah and B. V. Nagarathna said: “Being a public servant in the post office, the delinquent officer was holding the post of trust.
Merely because subsequently the employee had deposited the defrauded amount and therefore there was no loss caused to the department cannot be a ground to take a lenient view and/or to show undue sympathy in favour of such an employee.”
The top court allowed an appeal filed by the central government challenging a Madras High Court order, which affirmed a decision to convert punishment to a postal assistant from lay-off from service to compulsory retirement. It was alleged that the employee made a withdrawal of Rs 16.59 lakh from the accounts, however he deposited Rs 18.09 lakh, including penal interest, after the fraud was detected.
The bench said, “What about the loss caused to the department by way of goodwill, name and fame of the department and its reliability amongst the public? By such a misconduct/act on the part of the delinquent officer, the reputation of the department had been tarnished”.