Acquittal in criminal case does not debar employer from proceeding with disciplinary enquiry: SC

New Delhi/Bengaluru: The acquittal of an accused in a criminal case does not debar the employer from proceeding in exercise of disciplinary jurisdiction, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. The rules of evidence which apply to a criminal trial are distinct from those which govern a disciplinary enquiry, the apex court said.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant allowed the appeal against the November 2017 judgement of the Karnataka High Court which had set aside the verdict of the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal directing compulsory retirement of an employee from service following a disciplinary enquiry on the charges of bribery.

“Unlike a criminal prosecution where the charge has to be established beyond reasonable doubt, in a disciplinary proceeding, a charge of misconduct has to be established on a preponderance of probabilities,” the bench said. The top court observed that in a prosecution for an offence punishable under the criminal law, the burden lies on the prosecution to establish the ingredients of the offence beyond reasonable doubt.