Overview
- Justice Harpreet Singh Brar set stage-wise deadlines: inquiry within six months, punishment decision within three months, and appeal within three months, with the entire process capped at one year.
- The court held that unexplained delay will vitiate proceedings and emphasized that protracted action can violate Articles 14 and 21 by functioning as punishment.
- Chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh must issue implementation instructions within six weeks and submit compliance reports within three months.
- Administrative secretaries and heads of boards and corporations must conduct quarterly reviews, and departments were cautioned against indefinite suspensions.
- In petitioner Khairati Lal’s case, the court quashed the charge sheet and all consequential actions and ordered release of retiral dues with 7% interest, citing service-rule limits and years-long gaps from 2002–03 to a 2022 penalty.