India, Aug. 12 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday said an employee's termination order for not disclosing criminal antecedents should not be mechanical and the employer must apply its mind before arriving at a decision on the nature of suppression, type of offence and nature of employment.

A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and AG Masih said termination is therefore not an automatic consequence of the disclosure of criminal antecedents; rather, the specific case of the employee must be considered, and the employer must apply its mind before arriving at a decision.

Restoring the job of Shatrughan Yadav, who was terminated from Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd for not disclosing a non-cognizable offence case against him, the bench said...