- (1.) On 6th January 1997 the writ petitioner was appointed as a messenger in the Bally Durgapur Branch of the State Bank of India. This appointment was on probation but subsequently his service was made permanent.
(2.) His case is as follows. Trouble for the writ petitioner started from the end of April 2006. He was a resident of Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. On 29th April 2006 he received a telephone call from his home in Ballia that his father was very ill. He informed this to the Branch Manager. He immediately left for his home town without submission of any leave application. From 10th May 2006 to 15th April 2007 he was psychiatrically ill and under the treatment of one Dr. B.K. Sribastava. He was suffering from acute depression. In the meantime, on 13th February 2007 his father expired which aggravated his mental illness. He came back to Bally Durgapur and tried to rejoin the service sometime around April 2007 but was not allowed to do so.
(3.) The Bank tells a different story. The writ petitioner was a habitual absentee. On and from 29th April 2006, he was absent without authorisation. Several letters were written by the Bank to him dated 1st July 2006, 2nd August 2006, 5th August 2006, 12th September 2006 alleging such absence and asking him to resume duty or explain absence but most of the letters were undelivered with the remark of the postal authorities that he refused to accept them or was not available.;