Prasant Kumar Satapathy v. Food Corporation of India & Ors.
Compulsory retirement – Regulation 22(2A), FCI Staff Regulations 1971
Case brief
What is this about?
Prasant Kumar Satapathy v. Food Corporation of India & Ors., W.P.(C) 1274/2024, High Court of Delhi, decided 05.05.2026, Sanjeev Narula, J. (oral). Subjects: premature/compulsory retirement in public interest; Regulation 22(2A) FCI Staff Regulations 1971; FCI Circular EP-01-2021-24 (09.07.2021), Clauses 7, 10, 10(iv), 12, 14; DoPT OM 28.08.2020; second review; changed circumstances; visible meticulousness; doubtful integrity; ineffectiveness; five-year rule; APAR gradings; 'Nothing Adverse Reported/Noticed'; 'Beyond Doubt'; stale adverse material; colourable exercise of power; non-application of mind; arbitrariness; Article 311; Umedbhai Patel; J.N. Sinha; S. Ramachandra Raju. Disposition: petition allowed; retirement and representation-rejection orders set aside; service continuity till superannuation; consequences releasable in twelve weeks.
What did the court decide?
Writ petition allowed; the order dated 19th May, 2023 prematurely retiring the Petitioner and the order dated 20th July, 2023 rejecting his representation set aside; Petitioner to be treated as having continued in service for all purposes from the date of the impugned retirement order till his otherwise date of superannuation, the intervening period treated as period spent on duty for all service and retiral purposes in terms of Clause 14 of the governing circular, subject to lawful adjustment of amounts already paid pursuant to the premature retirement; monetary and service consequences to be worked out and released within twelve weeks.