Archive · 12 Nov 2025
Employer Cannot Initiate Disciplinary Action Against Dismissed Employee: High Court
Imagine you were fired from your job a long time ago.
Then, years later, your old boss tries to give you more trouble for things that happened before you were fired.
A High Court has said this isn't allowed.
Once a person is fired, the boss can't go back and give them more punishments or warnings for old issues.
It's like closing a book; you can't add new chapters to it.
The court said the company was like a 'closed book' regarding disciplinary actions for this former employee once they were fired.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed three chargesheets against a former inspector, Suresh Jindal.
The inspector was dismissed from service in 2013 after a conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The chargesheets were issued in 2017, alleging financial irregularities, nearly four years after dismissal.
The court ruled that employers cannot initiate disciplinary action against a dismissed employee once the master-servant relationship is severed.
The court stated the corporation became functus officio regarding disciplinary matters after the dismissal order.
- Who
- The Punjab and Haryana High Court and Suresh Jindal (former inspector)
- What
- The High Court quashed three chargesheets issued by the Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation against a dismissed employee.
- When
- The verdict was pronounced on November 7; the employee was dismissed on October 31, 2013, and the chargesheets were issued in April and July 2017.
- Where
- Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Why
- The court ruled that an employer cannot initiate fresh disciplinary proceedings after an employee has been dismissed, as the master-servant relationship is irrevocably severed and the employer becomes functus officio.
- Court
- Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Employee Name
- Suresh Jindal
- Original Dismissal Date
- October 31, 2013
- Chargesheet Dates
- April and July 2017
- Reason for Original Dismissal
- Conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act