KOCHI: Asking the public who complain about public sector utilities to appear in court would lead to a situation where no one would be interested in filing complaints, says the Kerala High Court.
A division bench comprising of justices Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and K Harilal further held that punishment imposed on an erring public official in charge of a public utility cannot be quashed for the reason that the complainant was not examined in court.
The court considered a case where a passenger in a KSRTC bus complained against non-returning of balance for Rs 100 by the conductor for a ticket for Rs23. Though KSRTC had dismissed the conductor, R Saji Kumar of Kuttoor in Thiruvalla, from service, an appellate tribunal had reduced the punishment to barring of three increments with cumulative effect. A single bench of the high court had, in June 2012, set aside the punishment imposed on the conductor for non-examination of the complainant, relying on a 1999 Supreme Court decision in Hardwari Lal vs State of UP case.
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A division bench comprising of justices Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and K Harilal further held that punishment imposed on an erring public official in charge of a public utility cannot be quashed for the reason that the complainant was not examined in court.
The court considered a case where a passenger in a KSRTC bus complained against non-returning of balance for Rs 100 by the conductor for a ticket for Rs23. Though KSRTC had dismissed the conductor, R Saji Kumar of Kuttoor in Thiruvalla, from service, an appellate tribunal had reduced the punishment to barring of three increments with cumulative effect. A single bench of the high court had, in June 2012, set aside the punishment imposed on the conductor for non-examination of the complainant, relying on a 1999 Supreme Court decision in Hardwari Lal vs State of UP case.
