HARIDAS Vs. DISTRICT JUDGE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) It is said that every could has a silver lining, but the same was not true in the case of the official career of the petitioner as will be clear when the facts of the case unfolds itself. -

(2.) The petitioner .was appointed as Lower Division Clerk in the Munsiff Court, Tellicherry as per Ext. P1. proceedings of the first respondent District Judge dated 15-2-1982. Pursuant to Ext. P1 he took charge as L.D.C. on 1-3-1982. Thereafter,- the first respondent transferred and posted him as L.D.C. in the District Court, Tellicherry.

(3.) Before this appointment as L.D.C. the petitioner was working as a leather in a tutorial College at Trivandrum for about 2 years where one Shri Madhavan Nair Suresh Mithran was also working as a 'teacher and the said Suresh Mithram was conducting a chitty and doing business in money lending under the name and style of M/s. Indian Mithra Bankers. While the petitioner was working as a teacher in the tutorial college as aforesaid, he was staying in a rental building at Trivandrum along with his parents. Hid next door neighbour at that time was one Shri Ravindran Nair, the said . Ravindran Nair joined in one of the chitties conducted by Suresh Mithran. According to the petitioner, during the last week of May, 1981 Shri Suresh Mithran requested the petitioner to hand over a sum of Rs. 5,000/- to the aforesaid Ravindran Nair which was due from Suresh Mithran to Ravindran Nair on account of the chitty transaction. Accordingly, the petitioner and Suresh Mithran left the tutorial college in the evening and on the way to the petitioner's house both the petitioner and Suresh Mithran went to the office of the Indian Mithra Bankers and Suresh Mithran handed over to the petitioner a sum of Rs. 5,000/-, all in 100 rupee denomination. On reaching home, the petitioner handed over this sum of Rs. 5,000/- to Ravindran Nair as directed by Suresh Mithran. As noticed above, this incident occurred during the last week of May, 1981. Nine months thereafter the petitioner got the appointment as Lower Division Clerk as per Ext. P1 order of the first respondent. During Onam Vacation in the year 1982 the petitioner, whiled he was at Trivandrum, was arrested on 8-9-1982 by the Grime Branch in connection with a case registered before the II Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Trivandrum for the alleged offence under S.489-B and C read with S.34 of the Indian Penal code. He was released on bail on 9-9-1982. On enquiries, the petitioner understood that the 50 hundred rupees currency notes handed over to him by Shri Suresh Mithran during May, 1981 to be handed over to his neighbour were alleged to be counterfeit currency notes and that the petitioner carried the said counterfeit currency notes from Suresh Mithran to be passed on to Ravindran Nair. The said Suresh Mithran was also arrested by the police on 9-9-1982 and he was remanded to judicial custody for nearly two weeks and thereafter he was also granted bail. Ext. P2 is the case diary submitted by the police before the II Class Judicial Magistrate Court.