Karnataka : In a landmark judgement, the Karnataka High Court upheld a bank employee's firing for fraudulently taking money from a customer's account, stating that any crime related with a financial institution, no matter how minor, must be taken seriously and dealt with harshly.

During the hearing of a case filed by a bank employee challenging the single bench order on his firing, a division bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and  Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum made this observation.  On January 19, 2007, the single judge overturned the order of the Central government industrial tribunal-cum-labour court, which had revoked the employee's firing decision.

The employee had opened a savings bank account and deposited money for a customer he knew. Later, the customer protested to the bank, alleging that the accused was removing funds from his account.

The court based its decision on the charge sheet's allegations that the accused bank employee had drafted a letter claiming that he was forced to withdraw money falsely due to financial hardship. The court upheld the single bench's decision, stating that bank staff fraud had become a global concern.

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