BENGALURU
The Karnataka High Court has come to the rescue of two power department workers who were fired after being jailed on murder charges they didn’t commit. The court quashed a dismissal order by the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM), ruling that being in prison is an “unavoidable situation” and cannot be treated as a voluntary resignation.
The workers, Gopalakrishna and Ashok Kumar, were temporary “gangmen” who were arrested in 2005. While they were stuck in judicial custody fighting the charges, MESCOM fired them for being absent from work without permission. After years of legal battles, the men were eventually acquitted and cleared of all wrongdoing, but the company refused to take them back, claiming they had waited too long to appeal.
A division bench of Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice T.M. Nadaf disagreed with the company’s harsh stance. The judges pointed out that MESCOM failed to conduct a proper internal inquiry before firing the men. The court noted that since the workers were in jail, their absence was beyond their control and not a sign of laziness or desertion.
The court has now ordered MESCOM to reinstate both men with 50% of their back pay, starting from the date they were first released on bail. The judges praised the workers for waiting until their names were legally cleared before seeking their jobs back. This ruling serves as a strong reminder that employers must follow fair procedures, even when employees face serious legal trouble.