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Anoop Jaiswal"

It would appear that the Director without holding an enquiry into the alleged misconduct recommended to the Government of India that the appellant should be discharged from the service. On the basis of the above report, the Government of India passed the order of discharge dated November 5, 1981 and communicated it to the appellant. The material part of the order reads thus.

"No. 1-22011/9/81 Pers. III Government of India/Bharat Sarkar Ministry of Home Affairs/Grih Mantralaya New Delhi-110001, the 9 Nov. 1981 ORDER Whereas the Central Government is satisfied that Shri Anoop Jaiswal, appointed to the Indian Police Service on pro-

The main contention of the appellant before us is that the order discharging the petitioner though on the face of it appears to carry no stigma is in reality an order terminating his service on the ground of misconduct alleged to have been committed by him on June 22, 1981 in acting as one of the ring leaders who were responsible for the delay of about twenty-two minutes in the arrival of the probationers at the Gymnasium and that such an order could not have been passed without holding an enquiry as contemplated under Article 311(2) of the Constitution and the relevant rules governing such an enquiry. He has also contended that the order is based on conjunctures and surmises and by way of illustration he has referred us to paragraph 13 of the counter affidavit which reads thus:

In short, if the termination of service is founded on the right flowing from contract or the service rules then prima facie, the termination is not a punishment and carries with it no evil consequences and so Art. 311 is not attracted. But even if the Government has, by contract or under the rules, the right to terminate the employment without going through the procedure prescribed for inflicting the punishment of dismissal or removal or reduction in rank, the Government may, nevertheless, choose to punish the servant and if the termination of service is sought to be founded on misconduct, negligence, inefficiency or other disqualification, then it is a punishment and the requirements of Art. 311 must be complied with."
"No abstract proposition can be laid-down that where the services of a probationer are terminated 'without saying anything more in the order of termination than that the services are terminated it can never amount to a punishment in the facts and circumstances of the case. If a probationer is discharged on the ground of misconduct or inefficiency or for similar reason without a proper enquiry and without his getting a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against his discharge it may in a given case amount to removal from service within the meaning of Article 311(2) of the Con-