Superintending Engineer v. Labour Court Madurai - Disciplinary Proceedings - Probation - Conviction Stigma

Case name and neutral citation

• Case name: The Superintending Engineer v. The Labour Court Madurai & Ors.
• Neutral citation: Not provided in the order.

Coram and judgment date

• Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra; Hon’ble Mr. Justice N.V. Anjaria.
• Judgment date: 12 January 2026.

Caselaws and citations

• Union of India v. Bakshi Ram, (1990) 2 SCC 426.
• Divisional Personnel Officer, Southern Railway v. T.R. Chellappan, (1976) 3 SCC 190 (quoted via Bakshi Ram).
• Union of India v. Tulsiram Patel, (1985) 3 SCC 398 (referenced via Article 311(2)(b) discussion).
• Trikha Ram v. V.K. Seth, (1987) Supp SCC 39.
• High Court decisions referenced in Bakshi Ram (R. Kumaraswami Aiyar; Embaru P.; A. Satyanarayana Murthy; Prem Kumar; Om Parkash; Daya Nand) as illustrative, not directly cited with full citations.

Statutes/laws referred

• Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (Sections 3, 4, 6, 9(3), 12).
• Constitution of India, Article 311(2)(b).

Brief summary (three sentences)The Supreme Court held that release on probation does not erase the stigma of conviction and corrected the High Court’s contrary observation. Relying on Bakshi Ram, the Court reiterated that Section 12 of the Probation of Offenders Act removes only statutory disqualifications under other laws, not the fact of conviction or consequences in service jurisprudence. Given the workman’s death, the Court declined to disturb the High Court’s modification of punishment, but set aside the erroneous legal observation to avoid future precedent.