You are talking about the disciplinary authority in a Government department. In fact, there are no sentencing guidelines or sentencing policy even for the courts in India which can send accused persons to jail.
It is the discretion of the concerned authority, which has to be exercised on the basis of the facts of each case, the seriousness of the charges, mitigating circumstances available in favour of the delinquent officer, aggravating circumstances against him, and many other factors, etc. In the absence of any sentencing policy or the penalty policy, as to how much penalty must be imposed in which circumstances, it is the discretion of the authority and it may depend somewhat also on the subjective satisfaction of the authority.
While a particular individual who has been awarded a penalty may appeal against it under the rules to the higher authorities or to the courts / tribunals, I don’t think you can challenge it on the ground that in one case it was dismissal while in the other it was a lighter punishment. However, in your case, you can cite such other case as an example for seeking a similar lenient penalty.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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