Put off duty cannot be treated as suspension without express regulations; wages remained payable during enforced non-employment.

In the absence of express regulatory authority, a "put off duty" order during departmental proceedings could not be treated as suspension pending enquiry. The High Court noted that the Corporation's Regulations did not recognise "put off duty" as a valid interim measure and treated it as an unsupported denial of work, not as suspension with only suspension allowance payable. Applying the doctrine of precedent, it held that a later co-equal bench view made without due consideration of earlier binding decisions could not displace the earlier line of authority. The workman was therefore entitled to wages for the period of enforced non-employment, and the employer had to pay the remaining balance of wages already partly paid.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner, a casual driver kept under "put off duty" during departmental proceedings, was entitled to full wages or only to wages equivalent to suspension allowance in the absence of any specific regulatory provision authorising "put off duty".

Analysis: The dispute turned on whether "put off duty" could be equated with suspension under the Corporation's regulatory framework. The Court noted that the Regulations did not expressly provide for "put off duty" as an interim measure, and examined earlier single-judge and division-bench decisions that had treated such a measure as unsupported by the Regulations and therefore not equivalent to suspension. The Court also considered conflicting co-equal bench rulings and applied the doctrine of precedent, holding that a later co-equal bench decision rendered without proper consideration of earlier binding decisions could not displace the earlier line of authority. On that basis, "put off duty" was treated as a compulsive denial of work without statutory support, not as suspension.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to wages for the period of "put off duty", and the Corporation was liable to pay the remaining 50% balance of wages already partly paid.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of express regulatory authority, "put off duty" cannot be treated as suspension pending enquiry, and a workman kept away from duty under such a measure is entitled to wages for the period of enforced non-employment.

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