Supreme Court clarifies rules on automatic suspension for arrested public servants

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court has clarified that a public servant who is arrested and remains in judicial custody for more than 48 hours is treated as automatically suspended without requiring a specific departmental order.

The legal clarification was issued by a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manmohan while setting aside a Patna High Court order that had earlier cancelled the bail of a Bihar hospital administrator. According to the bench, “Once a public servant is arrested and remains in judicial custody for more than 48 hours, there is a deemed suspension. Being a public servant, he could be said to have been placed under deemed suspension. No specific order is required to be passed in this regard.”

The apex bench issued the order on November 6, 2026, restoring regular bail to Vishwajeet Singh, an administrator at Sadar Hospital in Samastipur.

Case records show that Singh was booked in 2025 following an FIR registered at the Vigilance police station under Section 7(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. According to the allegations, Singh had demanded a bribe of Rs 4,000 to clear pending wages amounting to Rs 36,421 for a contractual worker.

After his initial arrest, a sessions court granted Singh bail. However, the Patna High Court on July 1, 2026, allowed a plea by the complainant, cancelled the regular bail, and directed that Singh be taken back into custody.

During the proceedings, the Supreme Court also drew attention to administrative developments regarding Singh’s tenure, noting that his suspension had previously been revoked and he was posted back to the exact same hospital on the same post. The bench asked the State of Bihar to examine this aspect of the matter.