New Delhi, February 24
In a significant judgement on management-staff relations, the Supreme Court has ruled that an employee can be sacked from service for using "foul" language against his superiors.

"Punishment of dismissal for using of abusive language cannot be held to be disproportionate," a Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan ruled.

Setting aside a judgement of the Bombay High Court, reinstating Mahindra And Mahindra Ltd (MAML) employee N.B. Narawade in service after being sacked for using "filthy" language against his superiors repeatedly in 1991, the apex court said it did not agree with the findings of the courts below that the "punishment of dismissal will be disproportionate to his misconduct."

"We will have to disagree with those findings," by taking into consideration all facts, situation and the law laid down by the apex court earlier in identical cases.

The apex court pointed out that all the courts below, whether it was the labour court, single judge of the high court or its division Bench, had come to the conclusion that the language used by the employee was "filthy".

"We, too, are of the opinion that the language used by the workman is such that it cannot be tolerated by any civilised society," the Bench said.

Use of such abusive language against a superior officer, that too not once but twice, in the presence of his subordinates could not be termed to be merely an act of "indiscipline calling for a lesser punishment in the absence of any extenuating factors," the court observed.