HARBAJAN SINGH Vs. AIRPORT AUTHORITY OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SHRI Harbhajan Singh is an electrical engineer. He belongs to a Scheduled Caste. He was appointed on probation as Assistant executive Engineer (Electrical), National airports Division in its Project Division at Goa. He was thereafter transferred to Srinagar airport. At Srinagar, on June 27, 1997, his services were terminated. His termination letter reads as follows:

(2.) HE contends that after repeated representations were ignored by the respondents, he moved the Chairman, National commission for Scheduled Castes and scheduled Tribes on July 2, 1997. After hearing the petitioner as also officers of the respondents, the Commission arrived at the following conclusions:

(3.) HE also contends that while he was working at Goa Airport, one Mr. V. K. Gupta, who was working as a contractor there, had turned inimical to him because he had detected several defects in Mr. Gupta's work. He states that although these defects were brought to Mr. Gupta's notice, they were not rectified. It is his case that Mr. Gupta resented the petitioner's scrutiny of his work and filed a false complaint against him on February 21, 1997. This ultimately led to the impugned order of June 27, 1997, terminating his services. It is the petitioner's case that the action taken by the respondents to terminate his services is based on certain unilateral findings of misconduct arrived at by the respondents. It is also contended that before reaching this conclusion, the petitioner was not given any opportunity of being heard nor was any departmental enquiry worth the name conducted by the respondents.