KAILASH BAHADUR KULSHRESHTHA Vs. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner, who was serving as Officer in Punjab National Bank, was removed from service vide order dtd. 2/1/2012 passed by Disciplinary Authority i.e. Circle Head (D.G.M.) Punjab National Bank Dehradun. He preferred an appeal against said order of punishment, which was dismissed by Appellate Authority vide order dtd. 31/5/2012. Petitioner thereafter filed a review, which was dismissed by Chief Managing Director, Punjab National Bank vide order dtd. 10/7/2014. Thus, feeling aggrieved by the orders passed by Disciplinary Authority, Appellate Authority and Reviewing Authority, petitioner has filed this writ petition.

(2.) From perusal of record, it is revealed that a charge sheet was issued to the petitioner on 14/10/2010 comprising of Article of charge as Annexure-1, statement of imputation of charges in support of Article of charge as Annexure-II and list of documents as Annexure-III and petitioner was asked to submit his statement of defence in writing to the Disciplinary Authority within seven days. Petitioner was informed that if he wishes to refer relevant records, then he is permitted to visit branch office Devprayag. In Annexure-I, which was supplied to petitioner alongwith charge sheet, the following charge was leveled against him:-

(3.) Upon conclusion of inquiry, Inquiry Officer submitted report before Disciplinary Authority. Inquiry report was supplied to petitioner by Disciplinary Authority alongwith letter dated 29.07.20211(sic), which is on record as Annexure 5 to the writ petition. Based on the findings returned by the Inquiry Officer, Disciplinary Authority passed a punishment order. The grounds taken by petitioner for challenging the punishment order are as follows:-