SC: Govt has wide powers to compulsorily retire staffer, improve efficiency

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court has ruled govt has wide powers to compulsorily retire an employee to improve efficiency of administration and that the person aggrieved cannot challenge such a decision on the ground that other similarly placed employees have not met the same fate.Upholding Chhattisgarh govt's decision to compulsorily retire five employees, a bench of Justices Manmohan and Shree Chandrashekhar said the principle of "every person must be heard before being punished", as enshrined in Article 311(2) of Constitution, is not applicable to cases of compulsory retirement because it is neither punitive nor casts aspersion upon an employee's conduct.Justice Manmohan said, "The decision is founded upon the subjective satisfaction of competent authority that the employee's continued retention in service is no longer conducive to public interest."Retirement must be based on bona fide assessment, says SCWriting the judgement, Justice Manmohan said, “The ultimate assessment as to whether an officer has become…