Bihar Doctors Dismissed For Absence After One-Sided Inquiries Are Reinstated
Two medical officers were dismissed under Bihar's rule for long unauthorised absence, after inquiries held without them. The Patna High Court has quashed both dismissals and ordered them reinstated.
The Court held the department examined no witness and relied only on letters, which under Rule 17(14) of the 2005 CCA Rules left the charge unproved: a case of no evidence. Notices were not served, inquiry reports were not supplied, and the dismissal orders ignored the defences. Long absence cannot be treated as wilful without a proper inquiry, so Rule 76 could not be used.
- Letters are not proof. Documents must be proved through witnesses.
- Absence is not automatically wilful without a fair inquiry.
- Defences must be answered in the final order, not ignored.
- The State may start again, but only from a proper charge memo.
- Court
- Patna High Court
- Bench
- Justice MR. JUSTICE KUMAR MANISH
- Citation
- CWJC No. 17875 of 2017 with CWJC No. 3045 of 2017
- Case
- CWJC No. 17875 of 2017 with CWJC No. 3045 of 2017
- Decided
- 16 September 2026
- Outcome
- Writ petitions allowed; dismissal orders quashed and doctors ordered reinstated
The two dismissals
Thakur Ashok Kumar Prasad was appointed a Medical Officer in June 1981. While posted at the Referral Hospital, Kataiya, in Gopalganj, the Civil Surgeon reported his unauthorised absence in September 2004. He was suspended, charged, and an Enquiry Officer found the charges proved in an ex parte report. He was dismissed under Rule 76 of the Bihar Service Code on 9 February 2017, even though the Bihar Public Service Commission had recorded its disagreement.
Dr Ishrat Hussain, a Medical Officer linked to Siwan, was dismissed the same way on 31 October 2016. His explanation of illness and his joining were not considered.
Both said notices never reached them, as postal endorsements showed they lived in Siwan, and that they never received the inquiry reports.
Why the inquiries failed
Justice Kumar Manish pointed to Rule 17(14) of the Bihar CCA Rules, 2005, which requires the department to produce oral and documentary evidence and to prove documents through witnesses who can be cross-examined.
Here the department relied only on administrative letters, including the Civil Surgeon's report, and examined no witness. That made the documents unproved, reducing the inquiry to a case of no evidence.
Rule 18 requires the disciplinary authority to deal with the employee's defence with reasons. The dismissal orders were mechanical and cryptic. Rule 76 needs a legally proven finding of wilful absence over five years through a valid inquiry, which was missing.
The directions
Both dismissal orders were quashed and the doctors are to be reinstated as Medical Officers within three months.
How the intervening period is treated, and whether and how much back wages are paid, is left to the competent authority by a reasoned order.
The State is free to proceed afresh from the stage of a proper charge memo, strictly under Rules 17 and 18, with full opportunity of hearing.
Who argued it
Appearances as recorded in the judgment of the Court.
Frequently asked
Can a government doctor be dismissed for absence without a proper inquiry?
No. The Patna High Court held absence cannot be treated as wilful without a fair, full inquiry.
Do the reinstated doctors get back wages?
That is left to the authority to decide by a reasoned order.
If you face dismissal for absence
- Keep proof of your correct address and of any notice not received.
- Ask for the inquiry report before the final decision.
- Check whether any witness was examined to prove the charge.
- Put your reasons for absence, with medical papers, in writing.
Source. Patna High Court, CWJC No. 17875 of 2017 with CWJC No. 3045 of 2017, decided 16 September 2026 by Justice MR. JUSTICE KUMAR MANISH. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.
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