The Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed a writ appeal filed by an SBI employee challenging disciplinary action taken against him for serious misconduct, including sexual harassment and misbehavior with staff and customers. The Court affirmed the penalty imposed, stating that the punishment was appropriate and backed by due process.
The case involved Ram Krishna Soni, a Customer Assistant at the SBI branch in Nawapara, Rajim, who was accused of misbehaving with a female customer during her visit to the branch. The complaint, dated April 17, 2018, led to a detailed inquiry conducted by the bank's regional office. The investigating officer looked into various charges, including misconduct with customers and staff, sexual harassment of women employees and customers, delayed customer service, derogatory remarks towards female customers, and habitual late coming, all of which were said to disrupt the discipline and environment of the branch.
The matter was also referred to the Internal Complaints Committee under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The Committee recommended disciplinary action after its investigation.
“The Disciplinary Authority took a sympathetic view initially but found the charges serious and supported by evidence.”
Following a departmental inquiry concluded on December 31, 2016, three charges were found fully proved while three others were partially established. As a result, the Disciplinary Authority issued a penalty in October 2017 that lowered two increments in the employee’s pay with cumulative effect till retirement and withheld further increments for two years.
On appeal, the Appellate Authority, DGM (B&O), Raipur, revised the penalty and imposed a stoppage of two increments with cumulative effect. Unhappy with this decision, the employee filed a writ petition at the High Court, claiming that the allegations were false, and he was not given the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.
The Single Judge dismissed his writ petition in February 2025, stating that the disciplinary proceedings followed due process and natural justice. In the appeal, the Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma, agreed with the Single Judge’s findings.
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“The disciplinary enquiry was conducted by a competent authority, and there are no allegations regarding incompetence or procedural irregularity,” the Court observed.
“The findings were based on evidence, and the penalty is neither shocking nor disproportionate,” the judgment noted.
The Court also cited the Supreme Court's judgment in Ajai Kumar Srivastava, emphasizing that judicial review under Article 226 does not interfere with departmental inquiry findings unless there is clear evidence of malafide intent or procedural injustice.
Case Title: Ram Krishna Soni v. Chairman-Cum-Managing Director National Banking Division Group and Others
Case Number: WA No. 292 of 2025
