Supreme Court of India· 11 August 2026

Can termination of service be an automatic consequence of the existence of criminal antecedents disclosed or discovered after appointment?

SHATRUGHN YADAV v. THE FERTILIZERS AND CHEMICALS TRAVANCORE LTD. (F.A.C.T.) AND OTHERS

2026 INSC 829 · Civil Appeal No. [not yet numbered] of 2026 (Arising out of SLP(Civil) No. 7197 of 2026)
Coram: Augustine George Masih; Sanjay Karol

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Answer

No. Each case must be examined on its own merits having regard to the form of suppression, the outcome of the criminal case, the nature of the employment and the offence, and any special circumstances; termination is not an automatic consequence of the disclosure of criminal antecedents.

Headnote

Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Termination of service — Bona fide non-disclosure — Two-pronged enquiry — Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Knowledge is a pre-requisite for suppression — Held: Knowledge of a fact is a necessary pre-requisite for its non-disclosure; suppression presupposes an awareness of what is suppressed. Where a criminal antecedent is not shown to have been within the candidate's knowledge, he cannot be held to have suppressed it. (¶31) Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Two-pronged enquiry before termination — Held further: Before terminating services for suppression of criminal antecedents, the employer must undertake a two-pronged enquiry: whether there was in truth any suppression, having regard to the candidate's knowledge; and whether the facts, including gravity of the offence and the post, merit termination. (¶24) Service Law — Suppression of criminal antecedents — Onus on candidate to prove lack of awareness — Held further: Lack of awareness of a criminal antecedent is itself a fact that must be established by the candidate with cogent and reliable material; a bare plea of ignorance, without such material, will not suffice to escape liability. (¶32) Service Law — Termination without application of mind — Reinstatement — Held further: Since the authorities presumed that a criminal antecedent automatically rendered the appellant ineligible without the two-pronged enquiry, the termination is illegal and without application of mind; he is directed to be reinstated with consequential benefits, backwages restricted to 50%. (¶33, 34, 35)

In the Court's own words

Paragraph 21What emerges from the above is that the relevant facts and circumstances must be considered in each case. The order of termination must not be mechanical but must have regard to the form of suppression, the outcome of the criminal case, the nature of the employment and of the offence, and any special circumstances. Termination is therefore not an automatic consequence of the disclosure of criminal antecedents; rather, the specific case of the employee must be considered, and the employer must apply its mind before arriving at a decision.

Acts & Sections

s.323 Indian Penal Code, 1860s.504 Indian Penal Code, 1860

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Also decided in this judgment

In service law, does suppression of a criminal antecedent in a verification form require that the candidate had knowledge of the antecedent?What two-pronged enquiry must an employer undertake before terminating an employee's services for suppression of criminal antecedents?Who bears the onus of proving that a candidate lacked awareness of a criminal antecedent at the time of making a declaration?

Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Supreme Court of India. Corrections