Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: A driver working for a semi-government corporation has been ordered by the High Court of Bombay at Goa to be reinstated with full back pay within two weeks and to pay arrears of back pay within four weeks.
The Goa State Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation Ltd. hired petitioner Luis Fernandes from Agalli, Fatorda, as a driver on October 16, 2000, and his services were confirmed on August 3, 2005.
Sadly, the petitioner had a paralytic stroke on December 31, 2020, and when he returned to work in March 2021, he asked the managing director of the Goa State SC and OBC Finance and Development Corporation to excuse him from long-distance driving because of his physical limitations.
In June 2021, Fernandes was submitted to the Medical Board for examinations. In its certificate, the Medical Board noted that the petitioner was unfit to work as a driver and recommended that he be given a less skilled position, such as a clerical one.
But in December 2022, he received a show-cause notice requesting him to explain why he should not be forced to resign due to illness.
The petitioner filed his reply in January 2023, explaining his position in detail and stating that the show-cause notice should be dropped because he had fully healed.
However, the Corporation’s managing director issued an order removing him from his position with effect from January 11, 2023, saying that he had prematurely or standing retired on that date.
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