In a case that has been in the legal process for 35 long years, the High Court of Karnataka has upheld the action of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) in dismissing a driver, after he served for 17 years, for submitting a forged school certificate at the time of applying for the job way back in 1988.Marulappa, who is now aged 61 years, was appointed to the post of a driver in September 1988.The BMTC, in 1990, initiated an enquiry against him for allegedly submitting a forged school transfer certificate to claim that he had studied upto class 9, even though he had studied only till class 1. The minimum qualification to apply for the post of driver then was completion of schooling till class 4.A decade-long enquiryHowever, the enquiry spanned over a decade, and was completed only in 2002, and he was terminated from the service in 2005. He raised a dispute before a labour court, which took 11 years to adjudicate the issue, and passed an award in 2016 by ordering his reinstatement without back-wages on the ground that he had served for a long time in the BMTC.The BMTC, in 2017, filed a petition before the High Court challenging the labour court’s award. A single judge’s bench of the High Court in February 2024 set aside the labour court’s ward and confirmed the BMTC ’s action of terminating him. Following this, Marulappa filed an appeal before a division bench against single judge’s order.Not unduly harshA division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Joshi, in its July 25, 2025, order has upheld the BMTC’s action while stating going by the nature of allegation that he had secured a job for which he was ineligible, the action of the BMTC in terminating him from the service cannot be termed as unduly harsh or disproportionately excessive.Published - July 30, 2025 09:26 pm IST