RAVEENDRANATHAN Vs. DISTRICT COLLECTOR PALGHAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is an Upper Division Clerk in the service of the Kerala State, in the Revenue Dep ment (now in the office of the Special Tahsildar, Vested Forest Land Assignment, Palghat). He feels aggrieved by the order passed by the 1st respondent, the District Collector, Palghat on 29-10-1983, purported to be in compliance with directions of this Court in the judgment dated 29-6-1983 in O. P. Nos. 827 of 1981 and 7978 of 1982. According to him this order has been passed by the District Collector in violation of the spirit of the direction given by this Court in the judgment dated 29-6-1983 in O. P. Nos. 827 of 1981 and 7978 of 1982. We would extract the relevant portion of the directions contained in that judgment:

(2.) The Government Pleader sought to support the order dated 29-10-1983 imposing a penalty of stoppage of increment for six months without cumulative effect on the reasoning that it being a minor penalty it was not necessary to conduct an elaborate formal enquiry as contemplated under R.15 of the Kerala Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1960.

(3.) We feel quite distressed that the 1st respondent, the District Collector, ought to have thought it fit to circumvent the direction of this Court in the judgment dated 29-6-1983 by resort to the imposition of a minor penalty to obviate the difficulty of holding an enquiry under R.15. This Court actually directed the enquiry to be completed expediously, if necessary, after the clarification of the charges in the light of the statement of facts attached to the charge memo. Thereafter a charge memo was given on 3-10-1983. The petitioner's statement of defence was submitted on 10-10-1983 and on 18-10-1983 a show cause notice was issued why the proposed punishment should not be imposed on the petitioner. On 22-10-1983 the petitioner submitted his reply stating inter alia that no enquiry was conducted and, therefore, the punishment should not be imposed. In spite of the fact that the petitioner had disputed the correctness of this procedure stating that no enquiry was conducted, on 29-10-1983 the impugned order was passed imposing a punishment of stoppage of increment of six months without cumulative effect.