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The plea had also sought direction to quash the order dismissing petitioner's appointment, passed by the LG.
A former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) who was fired by the Lieutenant Governor (LG) in 2013 filed a plea with the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly (LA), which the Delhi High court recently dismissed. According to the High Court, the LG, is the competent authority and had the power to discontinue the service.
A bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said that it is evident that the appointment of the petitioner is in the teeth of the law and cannot be saved.
The decision was reached after one Siddharth Rao, who had been absorbed into the secretariat of the Delhi Legislative Assembly (DLA) following the termination of his deputation duties with the Legislative Assembly, filed a case. Rao had contested the Lt. Governor's decision to dismiss him from his position.
However, the bench opined that the entire saga of the series of appointments, absorption, and promotion of the petitioner was tainted with irregularities and illegalities, de-hors the rules or due process of law, without approval by the competent authority, and was vitiated.
The bench also noted, "Still for the sake of argument, even if the termination order is tested on the anvil of violation of Principles of Natural Justice, there are documents on record to establish that the petitioner was granted ample opportunities by way of replying to the Show Cause Notice as well by way of personal hearings granted to him, which he chose to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to. Therefore, the petitioner's termination cannot be termed as illegal."
Additionally, the Court opined that in view of the irregularities and illegalities therein, show cause notices were invoked against the petitioner as ordered by Lt. Governor being the appropriate appointing authority and even the opportunity of being heard was granted to the petitioner.
In view of the above, the court held that the service of the petitioner was rightly terminated by the competent authority i.e., Lt. Governor.
Case Title: Siddharth Rao Vs. The Government of NCT of Delhi & Ors.
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