Driving under influence of alcohol not only serious misconduct but also offence; Merely because there was no major loss & accident was minor, cannot be ground to show leniency: SC

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Read Judgment: Brijesh Chandra Dwivedi (dead) Thr. Lrs. V. Sanya Sahayak And Ors. 

Pankaj Bajpai

New Delhi, January 25, 2022: The Supreme Court has opined that driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol is not only a misconduct but it is an offence also. 

However, considering the employee’s 25 years of long service and that fortunately it was a minor accident which resulted into some loss to the vehicle and the fact that he had since died, a Division Bench of Justice M.R Shah and Justice B.V Nagarathna observed that the punishment of dismissal can be said to be too harsh. 

Going by the background of the case, Brijesh Chandra Dwivedi (Appellant – the employee since deceased) a driver posted at the 12th Battalion, P.A.C. at Fatehpur, was charged for having caused the accident due to drunk driving on duty. After medical examination, he was found to have been under the influence of alcohol. The departmental enquiry proposed punishment of dismissal, which was confirmed by the Appellate Authority. On Writ, the High Court held that in the facts & circumstances of the case, a punishment of dismissal cannot be said to be disproportionate to the misconduct committed. Hence, present appeal by the legal heirs of the deceased since the employee had died. 

After considering the submissions, the Top Court found that fact that the appellant was driving the truck under the influence of alcohol has been established and proved, in the course of disciplinary proceedings as well as even on the medical examination conducted on the same date. 

Also, driving a truck carrying the P.A.C. personnel under the influence of alcohol is a very serious misconduct and such indiscipline cannot be tolerated and that too in the disciplined Military, added the Court. 

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Shah observed that when the employee was driving a truck carrying the P.A.C. personnel, the lives of those P.A.C. personnel who were travelling in the truck were in the hands of the driver, and therefore, it can be said that he played with the lives of those P.A.C. personnel, who were on duty and travelling from Fatehpur to Allahabad on Kumbh Mela duty. 

Merely because there was no major loss and it was a minor accident cannot be a ground to show leniency, added the Bench. 

Accordingly, the Top Court concluded that the award of punishment of dismissal can be said to be too harsh, and therefore, the punishment of dismissal is directed to be converted into compulsory retirement of the employee. 

As the employee has since died, and on converting the punishment of dismissal to that of compulsory retirement, death-cum-retirement benefits as also the benefit of family pension, if any, shall be paid to the legal heirs of the deceased employee in accordance with law.

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