Section 5 in The Punjab School Education Board Employees (Punishment and Appeal) Regulations, 1978
5. Penalties.
- Notwithstanding anything contained in any other Regulation, and without prejudice to such action to which an employee may become liable under any other Regulation or law for the time being in force, any or all the following penalities may be imposed for good and sufficient reasons on any employee of the Board :-Minor Penalties :(i)Censure;(ii)withholding of his promotion;(iii)recovery from his pay of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused by him to the Board by negligence or breach or orders;(iv)withholding of increment of pay;Major Penalties :(v)reduction to lower stage in the time-scale of pay for a specified period, with further directions as to whether or not the employee will earn increments of pay during the period of such reduction and whether on the expiry of such period, the reduction will or will not have the effect of postponing the future increments of his pay;(vi)reduction to a lower time-scale of pay, grade, post or service which shall ordinarily be a bar to the promotion of the employee to the time- scale of pay, grade, post or service from which he was reduced, with or without further directions regarding conditions of restoration to the grade or post or service from which the employee was reduced and his seniority and pay on such restoration to that grade, post or service;(vii)compulsory retirements;(viii)removal from service which shall not be a disqualification for future employment under the Board;(ix)dismissal from service (which shall ordinarily be a disqualification for future employment under the Board).Explanation. - The following shall not amount to a penalty within the meaning of this regulation, namely :-(i)withholding of increments of an employee for failure to pass any departmental examinations in accordance with the Regulations or orders governing the conditions of his appointment;(ii)stoppage of an employee at the efficiency bar in the time- scale of pay on the ground of his unfitness to cross the bar;(iii)non-promotion of an employee whether in a substantive or officiating capacity after consideration of his case, to a service, grade or post for promotion to which he is eligible;(iv)reversion of an employer meaning the higher service, grade or post to a lower service, grade or post, on the ground that he is considered to be unsuitable for such higher service, grade or post or on any administrative ground unconnected with his conduct;(v)reversion of an employee appointed on probation to any service, grade or post, to his permanent service, grade or post during or at the end of the period of probation in accordance with the terms of his appointment or the regulations and orders governing such probation;(vi)reversion of an employee promoted from a lower post to a higher post to such lower post for want of vacancy;(vii)compulsory retirement of an employee in accordance with the provisions relating to his superannuation or retirement;(viii)termination of the service,(a)of an employee appointed on probation during or at the end of the period of his probation in accordance with the terms of his appointment or the regulations and orders governing such probation; or(b)of a temporary employee appointed otherwise than under contract, on the expiration of the period of the appointment or on the abolition of the post or before the due time in accordance with the terms of his appointment; or(c)of an employee employed under a contract or agreement with such contract or agreement or in the case of an employee appointed for a specified period at the end of such period.Notes. - (1) The discharge of a person appointed to hold a temporary appointment, otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of Explanation (viii)(b) amounts to removal or dismissal and is, therefore, appealable under these regulations.(2)The distinction between censure, the withholding of promotion and non-selection to a Selection post is of considerable importance. Both censure and the withholding of promotion are appealable under these regulations. On the other hand, non-selection for a selection post is not appealable. If an employee because of an unsatisfactory record and unfavourable confidential reports, is not selected for a selection post and some other employee junior to him is selected in preference, this does not amount to the withholding of promotion. If any enquiry is held against an employee and if order of censure is passed on him, it is open to him to appeal; if he does not appeal or his appeal is rejected, and is subsequently because of the existence of this censure in his record, he is not selected for a selection post and some other employee junior to him is selected in preference, this also does not amount to the withholding of promotion. If, however, an enquiry is held against an employee and an order is passed that he should not be promoted to a selection post for a definite period or until he has obtained good reports this order would amount to the infliction of the penalty of withholding promotion. This distinction between non-selection for a selection post and withholding of promotion may be summed up as being that in the former case the employee in question is considered for selection but some other employee is preferred on his merits. While in the later case the employee in question has been declared before hand as a disciplinary measure to be eneligible for selection irrespective of the merits of the other employees available.(3)(i)While reduction of a seniority as a independent penalty is not provided for regulation 5 and cannot be imposed as such, the loss of seniority as a result of an order or reduction to a lower post or shall be inherent in the order reduction cannot be avoided.(ii)The seniority on repromotion of an employee reduced to a lower post on time-scale should be determined by the date of such repromotion in accordance with the orders issued by competent authority on the subject of seniority. Such an employee should not be restored to his original position unless this is specifically laid down at the time the order of punishment is passed or revised on appeal(iii)An employee in respect of whom one of the penalties included in regulations 5(vi) was imposed, will on re-promotion count previous service in the higher grade under rule 4.4 of the Punjab Civil Service Rules Volume I, Part I, unless the order of punishment or the order passed on appeal directs otherwise.(iv)An order debarring an employee from counting his past service in the grade from which he is reduced if and when reappointed to it, amounts to an order of reduction to a stage of the grade lower than that admissible under rule 4.4 of the Punjab Civil Service Rules, Volume-1, Part I, and does not therefore, fall outside the scope of regulation 5.(4)Unauthorised desertion of his post by an employee in face of enemy action or threat of enemy action clearly amounts to grave misconduct and would, therefore, constitute a 'good and sufficient' reason within the meaning of regulation 5, for removal or dismissal in addition to any penalty provided in the East Punjab Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1947.
