Rejection of the Notion of General or Implied Sanction

A statutory requirement of prior sanction to institute disciplinary proceedings against a retired employee demands a specific, conscious application of mind to the individual facts and charges of each case, and it cannot be substituted by an overarching concept of "general sanction" or long-standing administrative practice. The approval granted by a State Government to the general draft text of corporate service regulations does not constitute blanket or implied sanction under specific pension rules to initiate departmental inquiries against retired individuals. An employer cannot dilute, bypass, or circumvent explicit procedural prerequisites by asserting that general regulatory approval amounts to case-specific sanction. Without concrete proof of individual sanction being sought and granted by the government, any post-superannuation inquiry remains fundamentally unauthorized. (Kadirkhan Ahmedkhan Pathan Vs The Maharashtra State Warehousing Corporation & Ors. | 2026 INSC 16)