Disciplinary action for earlier misconduct and no prejudice from procedural lapses can sustain dismissal when the service nexus is established.

An employer may initiate disciplinary action for misconduct committed in an employee's earlier service with an affiliated cooperative society where that prior service has a sufficient nexus with the later appointment, including recruitment through a reserved quota. The absence of direct control at the time of the misconduct did not remove disciplinary jurisdiction. The Court also applied a prejudice-based natural justice test and held that non-supply of the enquiry report or omission of a second show-cause notice did not invalidate the dismissal unless actual prejudice was shown. The dismissal was therefore sustained and the High Court's interference was set aside.

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Issues: (i) whether an employer could initiate and sustain disciplinary proceedings against an employee for misconduct alleged to have been committed in his earlier employment with an affiliated cooperative society; (ii) whether non-supply of the enquiry report and absence of a second show-cause notice vitiated the dismissal in the absence of demonstrated prejudice.

Issue (i): whether an employer could initiate and sustain disciplinary proceedings against an employee for misconduct alleged to have been committed in his earlier employment with an affiliated cooperative society.

Analysis: The employee had been recruited from an affiliated society under the recruitment quota reserved by Rule 69(2)(b) of the West Bengal Co-operative Societies Rules, 1987. That affiliation created a sufficient nexus between the earlier employment and the subsequent employment with the Bank. The alleged defalcation related to integrity in the management of accounts, and the Bank was entitled to act on the past conduct of the employee once it came to light. The absence of direct administrative control at the time of the misconduct did not oust the Bank's disciplinary jurisdiction after his appointment.

Conclusion: The Bank was competent to proceed departmentally against the employee for the earlier misconduct, and the challenge to jurisdiction failed.

Issue (ii): whether non-supply of the enquiry report and absence of a second show-cause notice vitiated the dismissal in the absence of demonstrated prejudice.

Analysis: The disciplinary process was tested on the touchstone of natural justice, but the controlling consideration was whether any real prejudice had been caused. Applying the prejudice-based approach associated with Article 311(2) of the Constitution of India, the Court held that the mere omission to furnish the enquiry report or issue a second show-cause notice did not automatically invalidate the punishment. Since no prejudice was shown, the dismissal could not be set aside mechanically.

Conclusion: The procedural challenge failed, as no prejudice was established.

Final Conclusion: The disciplinary action was upheld in law, the High Court's interference was set aside, and the employee's dismissal was restored.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an employee's earlier service with an affiliated body bears a live nexus to subsequent appointment, misconduct in that earlier service may form the basis of disciplinary action by the appointing employer, and procedural defects in supply of the enquiry report do not vitiate the punishment unless actual prejudice is shown.

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