PATNA, Sept. 11 -- The Patna High Court on Wednesday quashed the dismissal of jail wardern Upendra Das, who was removed from service in 2018 following a 2016 prisoner escape incident at Buxar Central Jail. A single-judge bench of Justice Kumar Manish, while hearing the petition,described the Bihar government's departmental investigation as "procedurally flawed and illegal," noting that the decision to dismiss Das was based on assumptions rather than legal evidence. The incident occurred on the midnight of December 30 and 31, 2016, when five prisoners escaped Buxar Central Jail by breaking through a window and wall in ward number 29. Das, who was on duty at the time, was immediately suspended and subsequently dismissed on January 19, 2018, for alleged negligence. In his petition, Das challenged both his dismissal and the appellate order, seeking to quash the entire departmental proceeding initiated against him. The court observed that the department's case rested on assumptions rather than evidence. It noted that the failure to record oral statements from key witnesses was a violation of Rule 17 of the Bihar Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 2005....