SAIL & NMDC: Premature retirement through stigmatic orders
Through high-handed exercise of power, honour and reputation of the officers has been marred by a single stroke of a pen which was built by years of dedicated and selfless service and earned by sweat and toil over decades. How and who will bring back the lost honour and reputation of the officers?
During the board meeting held on February 11, 2025, SAIL approved premature retirement of 11 officers including the Whistle Blower Rajeev Bhatia who exposed corruption of over Rs 800 Crores in SAIL.
Subsequently, a press release was issued by SAIL on February 16, 2025 which was full of stigmatic and damaging adjectives for the officers. The press release is reproduced below:
“New Delhi Sun, 02/16/2025 - 10:22
New Delhi, 16th February, 2025: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), a Maharatna CPSE under Ministry of Steel, has a policy for undertaking assessment of probity and efficacy of executives above 50 years of age. Detailed guidelines in this regard, approved by Board of Directors of the Company, lay down the criteria for reviewing the effectiveness, efficiency, conduct and integrity of executives based on service records.
After the last such review, the recommendations of various Standing Committees in SAIL Plants / Units were considered by respective Competent Authorities and in line with the provisions similar to Fundamental Rule 56(j) in SAIL’s Conduct Discipline & Appeals Rules, it was decided to retire 11 executives in the interest of maintaining efficiency, integrity and accountability in the organization.
Press Release No: SAIL/PR/26/2024-25 Set Order: 538”
What was the need of Press Release that too again Stigmatic? Was this to ensure that the officers could not get a new job after they are illegally kicked out by the high-handed and autocratic SAIL management?
The same stigmatic and damaging adjectives were used against the officers in the premature orders handed over to the officers. It is not difficult to figure out that SAIL wanted to blemish the image and reputation of the officers before the audience as large as possible. It could also be to please the Secretary, Ministry of Steel, who is a strong votary of removing officers through premature retirement. It has been gathered that there is no guideline or circular of Government of India which mandates giving any kind of a press release after giving premature retirement to Government Employees.
In an article dated April 20, 2026 titled “Steel Secretary Bent on Downsizing 35% Manpower in SAIL By Invoking FR56(j)” the issue of stigmatic premature order was duly highlighted by bureaugram.com
It has been gathered that in line with the stated policy appeals were made by the officers against their premature retirement orders to the committee specifically formed for this purpose. It has been gathered that in the appeals the issue of stigmatic premature retirement orders was also raised stating that such orders are bad in law and hence illegal. No heed was paid by the committee to the issues raised in the representations and all were rejected through “non-speaking” orders stating that “No merit has been found in the appeal”.
Out of the many officers who approached the Administrative Tribunals/Courts for setting aside the illegal stigmatic premature retirement orders passed by SAIL on February 11, 2025, first case had come up for hearing on 31.08.2026 before the Honourable Principal Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal, Delhi. It has been gathered that three SAIL officials from its Delhi based Corporate Office were present in the court. During the hearing, one of the officers Dr Chinmoy Samajdar, Principal Law Officer of SAIL came forward and voluntarily agreed to withdraw the illegal stigmatic premature retirement order. Subsequently, Honourable Principal Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal, Delhi passed the order giving one week time to SAIL to withdraw the order. The bench also ordered to release all the consequential benefits to the officers within six weeks.
The above act of SAIL raises following serious questions:
1. Why did SAIL withdraw the order on August 31, 2026 when the illegality of the order was known to SAIL as early as March 2025?
2. When the language of all the orders is same i.e. all the orders are stigmatic, why SAIL has withdrawn the order only for one officer till date?
3. Why unnecessarily hefty fees are being paid to the senior counsels and lawyers from SAIL’s exchequer? Who all are benefitting from the amount? It is notable here that counsels / lawyers are selected / appointed by PSUs through nomination basis and not through any open, transparent and competitive process.
4. Much before February 11, 2025, it was a settled law that premature retirement orders cannot be stigmatic. Why were such orders issued in the first place?
5. Why were the officers subjected to social stigma, disrepute, shame, disgrace and dishonour? Who authorised the same?
6. Through high-handed exercise of power, honour and reputation of the officers has been marred by a single stroke of a pen which was built by years of dedicated and selfless service and earned by sweat and toil over decades. How and who will bring back the lost honour and reputation of the officers?
7. The list of directors who attended the Board Meeting dated February 11, 2025 include Abhijeet Narendra, Government Nominee Director on SAIL Board and Joint Secretary Ministry of Steel. How and why did the Ministry of Steel approve the stigmatic premature orders in the Board Meeting?
8. How and why the Independent Directors approved the stigmatic premature orders in the Board Meeting?
9. Whether the delinquent officers responsible for deliberately sullying the hard earned and long-standing reputation of the officers and avoidable & needless payments to senior counsels and lawyers would be held accountable and reprimanded through Disciplinary Proceedings by SAIL and Ministry of Steel?
10. Why has the precious time of the Tribunals/ Courts been wasted particularly when the legal system of the country is already under pressure due to the high number of cases? This time could have been gainfully utilised for hearing genuine cases.
11. Last but not the least. One of the major considerations for Joining a PSU like SAIL is the unlimited medical benefits. Through the illegal premature retirement, high handed and autocratic management of SAIL forced the officers to live without this benefit. It tantamount to snatching “Right to Life” which is a fundamental right given to the citizens under the constitution of India.
In Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, popularly known as the “Pavement Dwellers Case” a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled that the word “life” in Article 21 includes the right to livelihood also. The court said: “It does not mean merely that life cannot be extinguished or taken away as, for example, by the imposition and execution of death sentence, except according to procedure established by law. That is but one aspect if the right to life. An equally important facet of the right to life is the right to livelihood because no person can live without the means of livelihood.”
The court further opined: “if the right to livelihood is not treated as a part and parcel of the constitutional right to life, the easiest way of depriving a person of his right to life would be to deprive him of his means of livelihood to the point of abrogation …the state may not by affirmative action, be compelled to provide adequate means of livelihood or work to the citizens. But any person who is deprived of his right to livelihood except according to just and fair procedure established by law can challenge the deprivation as offending the right to life conferred in Article 21.”
The same has been recently emphasised by Rajasthan High Court in the SB Civil Writ Petition No. 2003/2024: Sunil Dattatrey S/o GP Dattatrey Ram vs The State of Rajasthan, through its Secretary, Panchayati Raj Department, Rajasthan and others.
What was the Role of the Ministry of Steel?
Encouraged from SAIL’s move and under pressure from the Ministry of Steel, another PSU named NMDC under the same Ministry, prematurely retired 7 officers on April 2, 2025 through similar stigmatic orders. Whether it was a mere coincidence or it was a well thought strategy of the Ministry of Steel?
(The above article has been written based on extensive research and inputs from various sources including sources from SAIL)
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