SSUBBA RAO Vs. STATE OF MYSORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A retired Chief Engineer and a retired Executive Engineer whose pensions were reduced and a Sub-Engineer who was dismissed in a disciplinary proceeding commenced against them under the Mysore Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1957, are the petitioners before us. The Chief Engineer is the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1064 of 1960, the Executive Engineer in Writ Petition No. 298 of 1961 and the Sub-Engineer in Writ Petition No. 1024 of 1960.

(2.) In the charge brought against them on July 1, 1958, they were accused of dereliction of duty during the years 1948 and 1949 in the supervision of a high school building entrusted to a contractor, when the Chief Engineer was an Executive Engineer; the Executive Engineer was an Assistant Engineer and the Sub-Engineer was a Sub-Overseer. On November 14, 1958, a Board of Enquiry was appointed to enquire into those charges. That Board found the petitioners guilty of the charges which it had framed against them and proposed the punishments. This report of the Board was submitted to the Government on March 8, 1959. On June 12, 1959, a show cause notice was issued to each of the three petitioners proposing punishments somewhat at variance with those suggested by the Board. On June 17, 1960, the impugned orders were made by which the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1024 of 1960 was dismissed; the pension of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1064 of 1960 was reduced by twenty per cent and the pension of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 298 of 1961 was reduced to the extent of fifty per cent. It should be stated that when the disciplinary proceedings commenced against the petitioners, the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1024 of 1960 had become a Sub-Engineer; the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1064 of 1960 had risen to the position o a Chief Engineer and had retired from service and the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 298 of 1961 had become an Executive Engineer. During the pendency of the disciplinary proceedings, the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 298 of 1961 also retired from service from the post of an Executive Engineer on May 31, 1959. The references to each of these petitioners in the course of this order will be to the posts held by them when it was proposed to commence disciplinary proceedings against them or about that time.

(3.) It is undisputed that the construction of a building for a high school at Chamarajanagar in the District of Mysore, commenced sometime in January 1948, and was completed in August 1949. Between February 28, 1948 and August 19, 1949, the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1024 of 1960 was a Sub-Overseer in charge of that construction although according to his case before the Board, he was prevented from devoting any attention to the construction of the school building since he was assigned a whole-time duty in some other place. Between November 20, 1947 and February 5, 1949, the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 298 of 1961, was an Assistant Engineer and in that capacity was also in charge of the construction of the school building. Between October 25, 1947 and November 7, 1949 the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1064 of 1960 was an Executive Engineer functioning in the area in which the construction of the school building was proceeding. It will thus be seen that although the Sub-Overseer and the Assistant Engineer were not in charge of the construction of the building during the entire period during which the construction was proceeding, the Executive Engineer was.