Allahabad High Court
Neeraj Tiwari vs U.P. State Road Transport Corporation ... on 14 July, 2025
Author: Saurabh Shyam Shamshery
Bench: Saurabh Shyam Shamshery
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:112822 Court No. - 5 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 21380 of 2023 Petitioner :- Neeraj Tiwari Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit Connected with 1. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 4737 of 2023 Petitioner :- Ram Babu Dhuriya Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 2. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 4740 of 2023 Petitioner :- Jitendra Gupta Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 3. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 4746 of 2023 Petitioner :- Mushir Ahmad Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 4. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 4982 of 2023 Petitioner :- Jai Raj Babu Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation At Lucknow And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 5. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 4991 of 2023 Petitioner :- Lavkush Patel Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation At Lucknow And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 6. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5008 of 2023 Petitioner :- Ram Naresh Yadav Respondent :- U.P.State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh 7. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5009 of 2023 Petitioner :- Ratan Dev Shukla Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation At Lucknow And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 8. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5187 of 2023 Petitioner :- Dashrath Prasad Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation At Lucknow And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 9. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5190 of 2023 Petitioner :- Salig Ram Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 10. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5192 of 2023 Petitioner :- Dev Kumar Kushwaha Respondent :- Up State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 11. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5197 of 2023 Petitioner :- Manish Kumar Mishra Respondent :- U.P.S.R.T.C. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 12. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6112 of 2023 Petitioner :- Dhananjay Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh,Satyendra Singh Chandel Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 13. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6142 of 2023 Petitioner :- Chhedi Lal Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- R.B. Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran 14. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6151 of 2023 Petitioner :- Surendra Kumar Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- R.B. Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran 15. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6164 of 2023 Petitioner :- Ramesh Pal Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- R.B. Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran 16. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6165 of 2023 Petitioner :- Sone Lal Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- R.B. Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran 17. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6197 of 2023 Petitioner :- Jitendra Kumar Ist Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- R.B. Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran 18. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6284 of 2023 Petitioner :- Anil Kumar Gupta Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 19. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6418 of 2023 Petitioner :- Shahajad Muhammad Respondent :- The U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Rachna Tiwari Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran 20. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6528 of 2023 Petitioner :- Kapil Dev Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation At Lucknow And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 21. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6617 of 2023 Petitioner :- Babu Ram Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 22. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6968 of 2023 Petitioner :- Shailendra Singh Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation At Lucknow And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 23. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 8434 of 2023 Petitioner :- Sachin Sharma Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 24. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 8527 of 2023 Petitioner :- Prem Chandra Sharma Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Sheo Ram Singh,Vijay Kumar Dixit 25. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 11834 of 2023 Petitioner :- Nitendra Kumar Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation At Lucknow And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran 26. Case :- WRIT - A No. - 11920 of 2023 Petitioner :- Gaurav Kumar Respondent :- U.P. State Road Transport Corporation And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Bhawesh Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Vijay Kumar Dixit,Vivek Saran Hon'ble Saurabh Shyam Shamshery,J.
1. Heard Sri Bhawesh Pratap Singh, learned counsel for petitioners and Sri V.K. Dixit, Advocate for Respondents-Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation.
2. Petitioners before this Court are contractual employees who are working as Conductor in the buses running under U.P. State Road Transport Corporation.
3. All the petitioners were found guilty of carrying passengers without ticket on inspection on different dates and financial penalty as per provisions were also imposed. However, no major penalty was imposed, therefore, they continued to work.
4. When U.P. State Road Transport Corporation was confronted with number of such incidents a decision was taken that an inquiry be initiated against such contractual employees, probably not for a recent misconduct but for the misconduct occurred earlier and the gap comes to about 7 to 10 years.
5. In aforesaid circumstances, petitioners have approached this Court and the Court by different orders initiation of departmental proceedings were stayed on ground that it was commenced after lapse of 7 to 10 years.
6. According to learned counsel for petitioners, petitioners are still working as contractual Conductors. Petitioners have not disclosed that before filing of respective writ petitions, atleast since 2018, they were never found carrying passengers without ticket on inspection though there is an oral statement made by learned counsel for petitioners that no such occurrence took place. Learned counsel for petitioner also submits that some of the Conductors who were found guilty subsequently carrying passengers without ticket were removed from service.
7. Learned counsel appearing for U.P. State Road Transport Corporation, submits that carrying passengers without ticket is a serious misconduct which in normal circumstances invite punishment of termination even to a regular employee. Petitioners are contractual employees, without any back up or without any statutory provision, therefore, even proper inquiry is not mandatory.
8. It appears that petitioners were repeatedly carrying passengers without ticket and on inspection financial penalty were imposed, however, no serious action was taken and they were allowed to work. Subsequently, a policy decision was taken to initiate proper inquiry though there was a gap of 7 to 10 years.
9. Aforesaid action of initiating disciplinary proceedings by way of impugned notices was considered by this Court and interim orders were passed. Petitioners are enjoying interim orders and they are still discharging duties as contractual employees.
10. The documents placed on record by learned counsel for respondents are prior to issuance of notice, therefore, the Court is of the opinion that for an act for which punishment has already been granted, respondents cannot be permitted to reopen the same by way of fresh inquiry after a long period.
11. In view of above, notices impugned in respective writ petitions are hereby set aside. However, it is made clear that in any case if petitioners are found carrying passengers without ticket, major penalty can be imposed. In this regard, Court takes note of the judgments passed by Supreme Court in North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation vs. H.H. Pujar, AIR 2008 SC 3060 and Divisional Manager, Rajasthan S.R.T.C. vs. Kamruddin, AIR 2009 SC 2528 that if a bus conductor found carrying passengers without ticket, it is a serious misconduct and concerned incumbent shall be awarded with major penalty of dismissal.
12. Since there are interim orders, therefore, it is observed that these writ petitions will not come in way if petitioners have committed misconduct or found carrying passengers without ticket in last one or two years and due to interim orders passed by this Court no proceedings are undertaken, the respondents are at liberty to take action against concerned employee taking note of aforesaid judgments passed by Supreme Court.
13. With aforesaid observations, all these writ petitions are disposed of.
Order Date :- 14.07.2025 AK