New Delhi: Twenty years after he was thrown out of job for smearing black grease on the face of his boss, a postal assistant will finally be able to receive his pensionary benefits.
"Law and life run together," said the Supreme Court as it agreed to reduce his punishment from 'compulsory' retirement to 'voluntary' retirement.
A bench of Justices MM Shanatanagoudar and Navin Sinha took the considerate view after acknowledging that the postal department employee had lost his cool because of insult to his wife, who also worked in the same office in Kota, Rajasthan.
"We are examining the present case from purely a common man’s perspective. In as much as one may forget abuse to one’s wife in an hour or in one year...that depends on the individual" observed the bench while allowing the petition partly.
Petitioner's lawyer Dushyant Parashar had pointed out that he was anguished over the fact that his wife's superior used to keep an evil eye on her and talked vulgar about her.
The petitioner's friend and a co-employee divulged all this to him but he could not do anything since the senior most officer protected the wife's superior.
Infuriated, on May 27, 1986 the petitioner smeared the boss's face with grease and he was later sacked over gross indiscipline following a departmental inquiry.
After he failed to get any relief in subordinate courts, he moved the apex court.
Parashar, his lawyer, confined the plea to only reducing the degree of his punishment in view of the facts of the case that the man lost his composure in a fit of rage after he felt his wife was getting humiliated.
The Court accepted his request, and ordered: “Having regard to the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, more particularly, the shocking contents of the letter, which is relied upon by the appellant, which appears to be the root cause of the incident in question, we find it appropriate to convert the punishment from ‘compulsory' retirement to ‘voluntary' retirement."
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