In Kumar Patel vs. The State of Bihar through the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar & Ors. (2026), Justice Ritesh Kumar of Patna High Court delivered a 10-page long judgement dated February 2, 2026, wherein, he concluded:"14. In my considered opinion, the petitioner has already suffered for the lapses on his part, which he has not been able to explain, but since for those lapses he has already suffered and punishment was inflicted upon him, which he accepted and the period of punishment has already come to an end. Therefore, the order impugned contained in Memo No. 7305 dated 13.09.2022 deserves to be set aside and is accordingly set aside. Since the grounds mentioned therein are not sustainable. The respondent no. 2, i.e., the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna, is directed to consider the application of the petitioner for grant of voluntary retirement afresh, considering the fact that the order of punishment looses its effect on 18.07.2022 and the petitioner has already suffered a lot for his lapses. The decision must be taken within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order and the same shall be communicated to the petitioner at his present place of posting through the Registrar, VKS University, Ara. 15. It is expected that while taking the decision, the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Government of Bihar, Patna, will take into consideration the fact that the petitioner has already suffered for his lapses and that any further punishment would result in further severe consequences for him. The Registrar, Cooperative Societies, should take a sympathetic view in the matter, while passing the order. 16. With the aforementioned observations and directions, the writ petition shall stand disposed of." It is the first judgement authored by Justice Kumar after joining as the judge of the High Court on January 8, 2026.
The six other respondents were: 2. The Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, 3. The Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Hajipur, Anchal, Hajipur, Vaishali, 4. The Bihar State Food and Civil Supply Corporation Limited, Through the Managing Director, Patna, 5. The Managing Director, Bihar State Food and Civil Supply Corporation Limited, Patna, 6. Bihar Public Service Commission Through the Chairman, Patna and 7. The Chairman, Bihar Public Service Commission, Patna.
The writ petition was filed for quashing the letter dated May 27, 2022 issued under the signature of respondent cooperative Societies Bihar Patna by which the application of the petitioner for voluntary retirement was rejected. It also sought quashing the letter dated September 13, 2022 issued under the signature of respondent cooperative Societies Bihar, Patna by which the application of the petitioner for voluntary retirement was rejected. The petitioner prayed for quashing the letter dated September 13, 2022 issued under the signature of respondent cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna by which the petitioner was directed to file show cause with respect to three allegations when the relation of master and servant between the petitioner and the respondent State ceased to exist after a period of 90 days from the date of submission of his application dated May 25, 2017 for voluntary retirement. During the pendency of the writ petition, the petitioner sought stay on further proceedings pursuant to the letter dated September 13, 2022.
Sanjeev Kumar Mishra, the senior counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was appointed on the post of Cooperative Extension Officer on February 26, 1997 on the recommendation of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and was sent on deputation to the Rural Development Department in the year 2010, where he was posted as Block Development Officer, Lauria. Subsequently, the services of the petitioner was placed at the disposal of the State Food Corporation, where he was posted as Assistant Manager.
An advertisement was published by the BPSC vide advertisement No. 56 of 2014 for appointment on 290 posts of Assistant Professor in the faculty of Psychology in different Universities in the State of Bihar. Subsequently, vide office order contained in Memo No. 2663 dated February 25, 2016, the services of the
petitioner was repatriated to his parent department. It was submitted by the senior counsel that a departmental proceeding was initiated against the petitioner under Rule 17(2) of the Bihar Government Servants (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 2005. The charges against the petitioner were that while working as District Manager, State Food Corporation, Bhojpur, Ara, he was involved in lapses in performance of duty, illegal storage and black marketing of subsidized rice. In the meantime the petitioner applied for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor and was called for interview, which was scheduled to be held between November 29, 2016 to December 1, 2016. The petitioner filed an application before the competent authority on November 11, 2016, seeking grant of one day leave to enable him to appear in the interview for the post of Assistant Professor, but no decision was taken on the application submitted by the petitioner on November 11, 2016. The petitioner, however, appeared in the interview and was declared successful. The petitioner was appointed as Assistant Professor, Psychology, on the recommendation of the BPSC and was allotted Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara, by the Department of Education, Government of Bihar, Patna. Subsequently, vide notification dated June 1, 2017, issued under the signature of the Registrar, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara, the petitioner was posted in SVP, College, Bhabhua, under Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara. On May 18, 2017, the petitioner submitted a representation before the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna with a request to expedite the departmental proceeding, which was initiated vide order dated June 2, 2016. The petitioner gave an application for voluntary retirement from the services of the State Food Corporation on June 13, 2017 and joined S.V.P. College, Bhabhua on June 14, 2017. By the Memo dated July 19, 2019, issued under the signature of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna, the petitioner was inflicted with the punishment of Censure and stoppage of three increments with non-cumulative effect, which was accepted by the petitioner as no appeal was filed against the said order of punishment dated July 19, 2019. The petitioner was discharging his duties at S.V.P. College, Bhabhua, but all of a sudden, vide Letter dated May 27, 2022, issued under the signature of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna, addressed to the petitioner, his application for voluntary retirement was rejected. The petitioner filed a representation on July 25, 2022 before the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna, stating therein that since the order of punishment had lost its force w.e.f. July 18, 2022, therefore, his application for voluntary retirement may again be considered sympathetically.
A show-cause notice dated September 13, 2022 was issued to the petitioner under the signature of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna wherein the petitioner was directed to submit his explanation through the competent authority within 15 days on the three charges. On the representation filed by the petitioner on July 25, 2022, the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna again passed an order contained in Memo dated September 13, 2022 wherein it was contended that the petitioner had applied for grant of voluntary retirement on September 13, and without waiting for the approval of the competent authority he proceeded to join SVP College, Bhojpur, Ara, on June 14, 2017, therefore he did not work on the post of the Cooperative Extension Officer from the period July 19, 2019 to July 18, 2022 i.e. the date during which the punishment order was subsisting, therefore, despite end of the period for which the punishment order was in effect, the punishment was not implemented. The application for voluntary retirement was again rejected. It was submitted by the senior counsel for the petitioner that the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna, on the one hand, asked for an explanation by issuing a show-cause notice to the petitioner vide Memo dated September 13, 2022, but on the other hand, prior to issuance of the show-cause, on the same day vide Letter dated September 13, 2022, rejected the application for voluntary retirement of the petitioner on the grounds mentioned in the said letter.
A counter affidavit filed on behalf of Respondent No. 2, contended that the petitioner, without approval of the competent authority, applied for appointment on the post of Assistant Professor, since his application was not submitted through the proper channel. It was contended that the petitioner, even before appearing in the interview, did not obtain any permission from his parent department, i.e., Cooperative Societies. Further, the petitioner submitted his application for VRS on June 13, 2017 and without waiting for approval, proceeded to join the post on June 14, 2017. He again submitted his application for VRS on August 5, 2019, but in the meantime, a departmental proceeding was initiated against the petitioner for alleged misconduct while he was posted as District Manager at Ara, which culminated in the award of punishment of Censure and stoppage of three increments with non-cumulative effect. It was submitted that opinion was sought from the General Administration Department and the Finance Department on the issue with regard to grant of VRS, wherein the General Administration Department opined that during the intervening period of punishment, permission for VRS cannot be granted. It was contended that upon finality of the departmental proceeding, which resulted in punishment of Censure and stoppage of three increments, the application for VRS was rejected, but in view of the advice of the General Administration Department that since the petitioner, without obtaining NOC from the Department joined services in VKS University, Ara, the said act amounts to an act of indiscipline and as such, a show-cause notice dated dated September 13, 2022 was issued.
Justice Kumar recorded in his judgement that it is apparent that admittedly the petitioner did not submit his application for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor through the proper channel. Further, the petitioner had submitted an application on November 11, 2016 for grant of permission to appear in the interview which was to be held from November 29, 2016 to December 1, 2016, but the respondent authorities did not bother to take any decision on the same. Further, it is also an admitted fact that the petitioner gave his application for voluntary retirement on June 13, 2017, but despite waiting for its approval from the competent authority, proceeded to join S.V.P. College, Bhabhua on the next day, i.e., June 14, 2017. The petitioner was inflicted with the punishment of Censure and stoppage of three increments with non-cumulative effect, which he did not choose to challenge. But the same lost its effect on July 18, 2022.
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