Overview

• A division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry set aside Dr. Shiva Sharma’s 2011 retirement as vitiated by illegality, impropriety and mala fide in law.
• Then administrative judge Justice (retd) Alok Singh graded Sharma’s integrity as doubtful for Nov 2010–Mar 2011 despite no verified complaints, inquiries or evidence.
• Justice (retd) Vinod Kumar Sharma, the earlier administrative judge that year, recorded no remarks for the initial seven months of the appraisal period.
• The bench noted Sharma’s three-decade record of largely Good or Very Good ACRs and said subsequent promotions rendered earlier adverse entries inconsequential.
• The court criticized the absence of even a covert vigilance check or a chance to respond and granted consequential benefits including notional seniority, pay and pension fixation and pension arrears, excluding salary for the years out of service.