GANGADHARAN Vs. KERALA FISHERIES CORPORATION LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner was the factory Manager of the Nylon Net Factory, which is run by the Kerala Fisheries Corporation Ltd. This Corporation is run by the Government of Kerala, Department of Fisheries. It is a statutory organisation, and as the petitioner has contended, it can very well be taken to be an instrumentality of the Government in the development of fisheries.

(2.) The petitioner was served with a memo of charges on 6-9-1980, which contained allegations that he failed to prevent the commission of fraud by one of his assistants, who was found engaging himself in a Nylon Net Factory owned by a private individual. The petitioner submitted a detailed explanation to the memo of charges. An enquiry was conducted in the matter. The enquiry officer reported the petitioner guilty of all the three charges levelled against him. A copy of the enquiry report was furnished to the petitioner and he was asked to show cause why punishment of removal from service should not be imposed on him. The petitioner submitted his explanation but it was rejected by the Managing Director and he was issued with an order imposing upon him a penalty of removal from service. Ext. P3 is a copy of that order.

(3.) The petitioner filed an appeal in the matter to the Board of Directors of the Corporation as enjoined by rules. He contended in his appeal that the report of enquiry was based on no evidence and he was being unnecessarily victimised. The appeal was dismissed as per Ext. P5 order. It is seen that on behalf of the Corporation Ext. P5 was passed by the Managing Director which states that the Board of Directors had considered the matter and confirmed his removal from service.