Mumbai, September 18: The Bombay High Court has quashed the compulsory retirement of a Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) professor for creating an alumni WhatsApp group, holding that merely forming such a group without the institute’s permission could not justify ending an accomplished career.
A bench of Justices MS Karnik and Sandesh Patil, on September 16, termed the punishment imposed on Dr Swapan Garain “perverse” and “grossly disproportionate”. Quoting English judge Lord Diplock, the court observed, “You cannot use a sledge-hammer to crack a nut.”
Garain, who joined TISS in 1985, was suspended in March 2016 and compulsorily retired in September 2017. He had challenged the punishment before the High Court, contending that he was entitled to continue in service until the age of 65 but was compulsorily retired at 58.
WhatsApp Group Led To Action
The disciplinary action stemmed from Garain creating a WhatsApp group titled “TISSians Career Impact2”. TISS alleged that he had used the institute’s logo without permission and was operating a parallel placement service by soliciting students and alumni for personal gain.
The High Court, however, found no material to support the allegation that Garain was charging money for placement services. After examining the WhatsApp chats, the bench noted that members were primarily sharing information about job opportunities and other useful material.
The court also noted that the registered TISS alumni association had not lodged any complaint against Garain.
Court Finds Punishment Excessive
“Merely starting a WhatsApp group by an employee without the permission of the organisation itself is not sufficient to put an end to the long-standing accomplished career of a person,” the court observed.
It further held that merely because permission had not been obtained from TISS to create the group, that by itself could not be a cogent ground for imposing such an excessive punishment.
“The said punishment is so strikingly excessive that it cannot be allowed to remain uncorrected while exercising the powers of judicial review,” the bench said.
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TISS Directed To Pay Back Wages
The High Court accordingly quashed the punishment order and directed TISS to grant Garain continuity of service until his superannuation. The institute was also directed to pay him, within three months, 50% back wages from the date of termination till superannuation and recompute his retirement benefits.
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