Differing with a single judge order to re-instate an employee of TSRTC who had been dismissed from service due to cancellation of his caste certificate, a Division Bench of the Telangana High Court directed the Warangal District Collector to furnish a copy of the caste certificate inquiry report to the employee.

The Bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji, disposing of an appeal filed by TSRTC against the employee’s reinstatement, said the Collector should provide the report copy to the employee within 15 days. The employee, K. Laxminarayana, would have the liberty to question the report before the Collector within two months of receiving it.

If the cancellation of the caste certificate of the employee was found to be incorrect, the TSRTC authorities should reinstate the employee with all consequential benefits, the Bench said. Mr. Laxminarayana got appointed as driver in the then APSRTC in 1993 as driver under Scheduled Tribes quota. He got elevated as Deputy Traffic Superintendent-II eventually.

Following a complaint that he got the job with a bogus caste certificate, an inquiry was ordered. In 2019, the Collector cancelled his caste certificate. Questioning this, the employee went for an appeal before the Principal Secretary of Tribal Welfare department who upheld the Collector’s order.

Challenging these orders, Mr. Laxminarayana filed a writ petition in the High Court. The single Judge set aside cancellation of his caste certificate observing that not serving the caste inquiry report to the employee was against principles of natural justice.

The Bench noted that the single Judge set aside the caste certificate cancellation on the ground that fair procedure was not followed and not on merits. “If this be so, then the proceedings would have to start afresh from the stage of giving a copy of the inquiry report to Laxminarayana,” the Bench said in its order.