THE MANAGEMENT OF STATE BANK OF INDIA vs SMITA SHARAD DESHMUKH

The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in reinstating the employee with back wages, as it failed to establish that the employee was unaware of the forgery of the certificate she submitted. The Court emphasized that the burden of proof lies on the employee to demonstrate her lack of knowledge regarding the forgery, which was not adequately addressed in the domestic enquiry. The Supreme Court reversed the High Court's decision, upholding the dismissal by the Management of State Bank of India based on the findings of the Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court.