K S RANGASWAMY Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) in this writ petition the short point that arises for consideration is whether government can place under suspension a bill collector appointed by the village panchayat.

(2.) the facts are the petitioner herein was appointed by respondent-2 as a bill collector i and according to Mr. Narayana rao, learned counsel for the petitioner, the appointment dated back to the year 1982. It now transpires the state government has passed an order as per annexurc-a placing the petitioner under suspension on the basis of a detailed investigation said to have been conducted by the special cell of the revenue department, Bangalore in the course of which, it appears, several serious lapses and irregularities touching revenue lands was found to have been committed by the petitioner and three others. In the light of the report the government had thought fit to place all those persons, including the petitioner under suspension with effect from the date of the said order ic. 20th october, 1990 (anncxure-a). Precisely the legality of this order is in question now.

(3.) the contention put forward on behalf of the petitioner is that the government has no disciplinary control over the employees of a panchayat who are governed by a separate set of rules on the basis of which a disciplinary proceedings can be initiated and concluded. In addition it is urged that the petitioner having been appointed by the secretary of the panchayat, he could not have been placed under suspension by the government, however high and mighty, it may be.