P.Karthikeyan Vs General Manager (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court held that denial to recruit person, having defaulted in repayment of loans and having adverse CIBIL, as Circle Based Officer [CBO] by SBI is justifiable as a person with poor/ or no financial discipline cannot be trusted with public money.
Facts- The present petition has been filed by the petitioner being aggrieved by the impugned order dated 09.04.2021, passed by the 3rd respondent. Notably, vide the impugned order, the respondent had cancelled the petitioner’s appointment to the post of Circle Based Officer [CBO] on the ground of adverse credit history reflected in the CIBIL report.
Conclusion- One more aspect that needs mention here is that the bank took a prudent decision that the candidates with history of default in repayment of loans and adverse CIBIL and other external agencies report were ineligible. The probable rationale behind the said criteria may be that in banking business, the employees deal with public money and therefore financial discipline needs to be strictly maintained. Further there must be efficiency in handling public money and obviously a person with poor/ or no financial discipline cannot be trusted with public money. Therefore this Court under Article 226 of Constitution of India will not consider the relevancy of the eligibility criteria prescribed by the respondents.
