MUHAMMAD TARIQ vs DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, NAROWAL and otherss
The petitioner sought leave to appeal against the judgment of the Punjab Service Tribunal, Lahore, which had upheld his dismissal from service for misconduct involving causing injuries to a colleague and refusing to relinquish charge upon transfer. During the proceedings, the petitioner's counsel did not press the petition on merits but requested a modification of the extreme penalty of dismissal to removal from service, a request that was approved by the learned Assistant Advocate-General, Punjab. The core legal question concerned the appropriateness and mitigation of the departmental penalty in the specific factual background of the case. The Supreme Court converted the petition into an appeal and partly allowed it, holding that the peculiar facts and circumstances warranted a reduction in punishment. Consequently, the Court laid down the principle that the Supreme Court may, in appropriate factual contexts and with state consent or consensus, convert the extreme penalty of dismissal from service into removal from service.
- Can the penalty of dismissal from service be converted into removal from service in view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of a service appeal?
- Whether the Supreme Court can modify a departmental penalty upon the request of the petitioner not pressed on merits but consented to by the law officer?
' FAQIR MUHAMMAD KHOKHAR, J.--- The petitioner seeks leave to appeal from judgment dated 12-6- 2002, passed by the Punjab Service Tribunal, Lahore, in Appeal No,2632 of 2000.
2. The petitioner, a junior clerk, in the office at Deputy Commissioner, Narowal was dismissed from service by order, dated 16-7-1999. His appeal was also dismissed by the Commissioner, Gujranwala Division, on 17-11-1999 on charges of misconduct for causing injuries to his colleague and for refusing to relinquish the charge on his transfer.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner does not press this petition on merits but seeks the indulgence of this Court for modification of extreme penalty of dismissal from service and its conversion into removal from service.
4. The learned Assistant Advocate-General, Punjab has approved the request of the petitioner.
5. We have heard the learned Advocate Supreme Court and the Assistant Advocate-General, Punjab. In the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and the background in which the occurrence had taken place the case of reduction of extreme departmental penalty seems to have made out. Therefore, this petition is converted into appeal and is partly allowed. The penalty of dismissal from service of the petitioner as awarded by the departmental authorities and the Tribunal is converted into removal from service. The orders of the departmental authorities and the Tribunal shall also stand modified accordingly.