High Court rules FSM was right to dismiss Bolike barge worker over oil fraud

The High Court has ruled that Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM) acted lawfully in dismissing an employee accused of cheating during oil deliveries made from the company’s barge Bolike.

The employee, a man from an island in central Maldives who had worked at FSM since 2012, was terminated in October 2019 after the company found he had engaged in fraudulent and negligent conduct while handling fuel transactions on Bolike.

Following his dismissal, the employee filed a case with the Employment Tribunal, which concluded that FSM had failed to establish substantive justification and procedural fairness. The tribunal ordered that he be reinstated.

FSM appealed the decision to the High Court, which unanimously overturned the tribunal’s ruling.

In its judgment, the High Court held that the employee had been proven to have committed negligence and fraud in the performance of his duties. The court further noted that retaining such an employee posed a risk of continued financial and operational harm to the company, making reinstatement untenable.

The case was heard by a three‑judge bench comprising Justice Abdul Rauf Ibrahim, Justice Hussain Mazeed, and Justice Mohamed Shaneez Abdullah, all of whom concurred in the verdict.

The appeal was filed in June 2021, meaning the case took nearly five years to reach its conclusion.