The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted a final opportunity to Haryana cadre IAS officer Mukul Kumar (IAS:2011:HY) to file a long-pending compliance affidavit. But it came with a penalty with the court asking him to pay Rs 1 lakh as costs to be deducted from his salary.
Kumar is currently serving as the Director in the Urban Local Bodies department of the Haryana government.
Justice Sudeepti Sharma’s order came on a contempt of court petition in a service matter filed against the IAS officer.
Justice Sharma observed that the respondent was seeking some more time to file a compliance affidavit, so the last opportunity was being granted to him to file a compliance affidavit, subject to payment of Rs 1 lakh cost to be deducted from his salary.
The Bench directed that the amount be shared equally between the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, Chandigarh, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees’ Welfare Fund. The matter has now been adjourned to May 25.
The case emanates from a High Court order passed over a year back pertaining to the petitioner-employee’s resignation. The bench was told that the resignation was accepted with retrospective effect nearly three decades back despite its prior withdrawal.
The bench then had held the decision to be without jurisdiction and contrary to settled legal principles and had also quashed the order dated September 6, 1994, while ruling that the petitioner be treated as in service with entitlement to 50 percent back wages.
The ruling came on the petition filed in 2001 by a senior accountant, who initially tendered his resignation on November 1, 1993, with effect from December 1, 1993. But the employer did not accept the resignation and asked him to clear outstanding house-building loan dues. The resignation remained in limbo for months until the petitioner withdrew it on August 8, 1994. Yet, the competent authority on September 6, 1994, accepted the resignation with retrospective effect.
He moved the High Court, which categorically ruled that resignation did not take effect unless accepted through a specific order.
The HC judge also reinforced the principle that a resignation could be withdrawn at any time before it was formally accepted.
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