Service Law
Service Law
Service law is, at its core, the law of employment in the public sector, but that description does not begin to capture what is at stake in a service dispute. For a government servant, a dismissal order is not merely a career setback. It may mean the loss of decades of service, pension entitlements, and the financial security of an entire family. For an armed forces officer, a wrongful medical discharge may carry consequences that are both professional and deeply personal. The law provides remedies, but accessing them requires knowing where to go, what to argue, and how to present the case.
Service law is one of the two areas in which I have built sustained, hands-on expertise. I draft the petitions, affidavits, and written submissions myself, and I argue the matters before the Tribunal and the Courts. My practice in this area spans the full hierarchy of forums available to government servants and armed forces personnel.
Forums
- Supreme Court of India — As an Advocate on Record, I am authorised to file and argue service matters at the apex level, including Special Leave Petitions and Civil Appeals arising from High Court orders.
- Delhi High Court — Writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging service orders, denial of benefits, disciplinary actions, and allied matters.
- Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Principal Bench, New Delhi — Original Applications and appeals covering the full spectrum of Central Government service disputes.
- Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) — Service and pension matters involving personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and paramilitary forces.
Matters I Handle
- Dismissal, removal, compulsory retirement, and suspension — including challenges to the validity of disciplinary proceedings and the proportionality of penalties imposed.
- Promotion disputes — supersession, seniority, zone of consideration, and Departmental Promotion Committee proceedings.
- Pay, grade pay, and allowance disputes — including incorrect fixation, denial of entitled allowances, and recovery of alleged excess payments.
- Pension and retiral benefits — denial, reduction, or withholding of pension; commutation disputes; family pension matters; disability pension for armed forces personnel.
- Regularisation of service and counting of past service for pensionary benefits.
- Departmental enquiries — challenging procedural violations, bias of the Enquiry Officer, inadequacy of findings, and disproportionate penalties.
- Armed forces service matters — including rank disputes, medical discharge, disability assessment, and pension entitlements.
- Inter-departmental and inter-cadre disputes, including transfer and posting grievances.