Supreme Court: Off-duty violence against wife is civil servant misconduct

The Supreme Court has held that serious misconduct by a civil servant in his private life, including violence against his wife, can constitute service misconduct even when it is committed outside office hours and has no link to official duties, The Express Tribune reported.

The court dismissed a petition filed by an Intelligence Bureau employee, Jawad Abbasi, who worked as a cook in the agency. He had been accused of setting his wife on fire and was compulsorily retired from service as a departmental penalty.

Abbasi had challenged the Federal Service Tribunal's decision, which maintained that penalty. The Supreme Court upheld the compulsory retirement.

The judgment was written by Justice Shahid Waheed, with Justice Ayesha A. Malik as a member of the bench. The court observed that violence does not become a private matter merely because it took place inside the home.

The court clarified that an FIR alone cannot justify departmental punishment. In this case, however, the inquiry officer examined 13 witnesses in the employee's presence and gave him a chance to cross-examine them.

According to the report, the departmental inquiry independently established the charges, including the allegation of violence against his wife and his attempt to present the incident as her suicide.

The court explained that criminal and departmental proceedings serve different purposes and apply different standards of proof. An acquittal means criminal guilt was not proved beyond reasonable doubt, and it does not necessarily establish innocence for departmental purposes.

The court found that the employee had been given an opportunity to defend himself and that compulsory retirement was proportionate to the gravity of the misconduct. It found no legal error, no violation of due process and no substantial question of law of public importance, and refused leave to appeal.