STATE OF KERALA Vs. SOJAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Aggrieved by the order dtd. 25/1/2023 in O.A. (EKM)No.946/2019 of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal, Additional Bench, Ernakulam the State has filed this original petition.

(2.) The applicant in the O.A. is the respondent herein. He superannuated from service in the cadre of Senior Superintendent on 31/5/2015 from the office of the 3rd respondent. He was sanctioned the provisional pension and DCRG due to him was withheld invoking Rule 3A of Part III of Kerala Service Rules. Reason for withholding the DCRG and sanction of provisional pension was registration of a case by Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Kannur unit against four Government employees including the respondent and three others. As revealed from Annexure-A2 the case was registered under Sec. 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Sec. 120B of IPC.

(3.) The Government employees including the petitioner involved in the case approached this Court in Crl.M.C.No.1607/2016 praying for quashing the FIR lodged against them. Order passed by this Court in the Crl.M.C. is produced with the original application as Annexure-A3. A learned Single Judge of this Court allowed the Crl.M.C. on the basis of submissions made by the learned State Attorney. Submissions made by the learned State Attorney as recorded in the order of the learned Single Judge are extracted hereunder:-