New Delhi: The Supreme Court has exonerated V M Saudagar, a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) dismissed in 1996 over allegations of accepting a Rs 50 bribe for berth allotment, bringing closure to a legal battle that spanned nearly three decades. Although Saudagar passed away during the proceedings, his legal heirs continued the fight, and the apex court’s verdict finally cleared his name.

In its 10-page judgment, as reported by The New Indian Express, the Supreme Court noted with regret that Saudagar “is no longer alive to hear the good news as he died during the pendency of the case in the High Court”.

The two-judge bench, comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, observed, “All the charges have not been found to be proved conclusively against the appellant and Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), on the basis of the material on record, had rightly interfered with the penalty of dismissal from service against the appellant. The High Court has failed to take note of the legal position that when the findings of the Enquiry Officer were perverse based on completely misleading materials produced before the Enquiry Officer, CAT was fully justified in setting aside the order of penalty.”

Saudagar’s family, who fought the case for nearly 30 years, expressed relief as the Supreme Court ordered that all consequential financial benefits, including pension, be released to them.

What the case was about

The controversy dates back to May 1988 when Saudagar, on duty in a second-class sleeper coach of the Dadar–Nagpur Express, was accused of taking Rs 50 from passengers for berth allotment during a surprise check. The Vigilance Department alleged that he had demanded Rs 25 from Hemant Kumar, Rs 20 from Dinesh Choudhary and Rs 5 from Rajkumar Jaiswal, none of which were refunded.

Additional allegations included possession of excess cash amounting to Rs 1,254 (excluding personal and railway funds), failure to recover Rs 18 fare difference from a passenger (Ticket No. 444750) and forging a duty card pass by extending its validity without authorisation.

Following a Departmental inquiry, Saudagar was dismissed under Rule 3(1)(i) and (ii) of the 1966 Railway Rules for alleged lack of integrity and devotion to duty. He challenged the dismissal before the CAT, which in 2002 ordered his reinstatement. However, the government appealed to the Bombay High Court, which stayed the CAT order. Saudagar passed away while the case remained pending.

In 2017, the High Court upheld his dismissal, but his family persisted in challenging the bribery charges, ultimately taking the matter to the Supreme Court, which has now granted him a clean chit.