Mumbai, July 22: The Bombay High Court has directed the reinstatement of a BMC medical officer, who was suspended after his name surfaced in an alleged fake birth certificate scam, holding that the civic body failed to follow its own service rules before taking disciplinary action.
High Court Orders Reinstatement
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad, on July 14, directed the reinstatement of Dr Shailendra Gujar with full salary for the suspension period.
However, it clarified that the BMC is free to restart disciplinary proceedings after following the prescribed procedure. The detailed copy of the order was made available on Wednesday.
The suspension stems from the alleged fake birth certificate scam that came to light earlier this year. Kurla Police had registered an FIR against 15 people following a complaint by BMC Medical Health Officer Dr Satish Badgire, alleging that forged documents were used to make unauthorised corrections in birth records.
Dr Gujar challenged his suspension, issued on May 7, 2026, with retrospective effect from May 4, contending that the mandatory procedure under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2015, had not been followed.
Court Finds Procedural Lapse
Appearing for the doctor, advocate Uday Warunjikar argued that his client was not named as an accused in the FIR and was suspended in undue haste.
The petition also pointed out that a former Member of Parliament had referred to Dr Gujar's suspension in a letter even before the official suspension order was issued.
The BMC maintained that it was empowered to suspend an employee while disciplinary proceedings were pending and that the action was valid under its service rules.
Rejecting this stand, the High Court said the corporation could not rely only on the rule empowering it to suspend employees. It held that the provision must be read along with another rule that requires a preliminary enquiry before deciding whether an employee should be suspended.
“The interpretation of Rule 4(A) [power to suspend an employee] should not do violence to Rule 4(B) [conduct preliminary enquiry before suspending an employee],” the bench observed, adding that both provisions must operate together.
Inquiry Can Continue
The judges noted that after dropping an earlier preliminary enquiry and charge memo, the corporation issued a fresh charge sheet but suspended the doctor before completing the required process. “An undue haste has driven the Corporation to suspend the Petitioner,” the court said.
Calling the preliminary enquiry requirement “a safeguard against unnecessary suspension of an employee pending disciplinary proceedings”, the bench quashed the suspension. It said the BMC could proceed with the disciplinary enquiry only after following the procedure prescribed under the rules.
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The FIR alleges that Dr Gujar's login credentials were used to make unauthorised corrections in several birth certificates in December 2024. The investigation began after a former parliamentarian complained of irregularities in delayed birth certificate applications, some allegedly supported by forged documents.
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