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New Delhi, Oct 19: In a rare gesture, the Supreme Court directed that former Indian Trade Service officer S S Das—compulsorily retired less than five years before superannuation—be called back to office by the Director General of Foreign Trade and given a farewell with full honour.
A bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu also ordered post‑retirement and pensionary benefits for Das, while imposing a ₹15 lakh cost on the Centre, remarking that branding him "dead wood" smacked of malice.
The bench said branding an officer like the appellant, who dedicated the best years of his life to the service of the nation as dead wood and weeding him out from service by invoking the specious ground that it is necessary to do so in public interest smacks of a high degree of malice and colorable exercise of power.
The bench said everyone must remember that reputation is not built overnight. It added that reputation is built by years of dedicated and selfless service, often coming at the cost of family life and personal comfort.
Such a reputation earned by sweat and toil over decades can, however, be marred by a single stroke of a pen, it added.
"We direct that the appellant shall be called back in office by the Director General of Foreign Trade for being bidden farewell with full honour and in like manner, which he would have received on the date of his superannuation but for the unceremonious premature severance of relationship," the bench said.
The bench allowed the appeal with costs assessed at ₹6 lakh to be paid by the respondent to the appellant.
Furthermore, for the loss of reputation suffered by the appellant, the bench ordered the respondent to compensate him an additional ₹9 lakh.
The bench directed that service benefits, along with payments regarding emoluments, compensation and costs be released in favour of the appellant, within 3 months from the date.
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