NEW DELHI: It is not punitive to hand out compulsory retirement to someone, particularly in the armed forces, whose performance is slackening over the years, the Supreme Court said Thursday while rejecting the plea of a CISF officer challenging his removal from service on the ground of poor performance.A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar said compulsory retirement should not be seen as punitive but as a measure needed to ensure a high standard of efficiency and discipline in the force. “The object underlying compulsory retirement is to weed out the dead wood so as to maintain a high standard of efficiency and integrity in public service,” the bench said, adding such an order is “not punitive in nature”, carries no stigma and is passed in public interest on the government’s subjective satisfaction.
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It, however, said compulsory retirement is open to judicial scrutiny if the order is mala fide, arbitrary or perverse.Rejecting the officer’s plea, the bench noted his performance had declined in the two years preceding the retirement order, with gradings dropping from “Good” to “Average”. Members of disciplined forces are expected to maintain consistently high standards of efficiency, vigilance and discipline, it said.
