New Delhi: In a significant ruling on the service conditions of public servants, the Supreme Court has held that a government employee who is arrested in any case and remains in judicial custody for more than 48 hours must be treated as automatically suspended, under the doctrine of “deemed suspension.” A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manmohan clarified that no separate suspension order needs to be issued for this to take effect.
The observations were made while hearing a petition filed by Vishwajeet Singh, manager of Sadar Hospital in Samastipur, Bihar. Singh was arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act on allegations that he demanded a bribe of ₹4,000 to clear a contractor’s pending dues of ₹36,421. He spent about 15 days in judicial custody following his arrest.
A sessions court subsequently granted him bail, but the Patna High Court set aside that order. Singh then moved the Supreme Court, which restored the bail granted by the sessions court.
During the proceedings, the bench expressed strong surprise that Singh’s suspension had been revoked and that he had been reinstated to the same post at the same hospital. “This is shocking. The State government must review this matter immediately,” the court said.
The apex court also observed that, in cases where the accused has no serious criminal antecedents, bail should ordinarily be granted. Accordingly, it quashed the Patna High Court’s order and reinstated the sessions court’s bail order.