MM SHETH Vs. AMC

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for declaration that the decision of the Standing Committee of the respondent Corporation to terminate the services of the petitioner is illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Articles 14 & 16 of the Constitution of India and further praying for quashing and setting aside the same. The petitioner has also prayed for reinstatement in service with full back wages and with all other consequential benefits.

(2.) This petition was admitted on 27.03.1985. It was decided by this Court on 18.10.1996 whereby the petition was dismissed. The said dismissal order was challenged by the petitioner in L.P.A. No. 870 of 1997 on the ground that the said order was passed without hearing the petitioner. The Division Bench of this Court has, therefore, allowed the appeal and quashed and set aside the order passed by the Learned Single Judge after hearing Mr. Shailesh Parikh for the appellant and Mr. Prashant G. Desai for the respondent - Corporation. The Division Bench has directed the office to place the matter before the Learned Single Judge and also made it clear that the Court has not gone into the merits of the matter and the Learned Single Judge will decide the matter on its own merits.

(3.) It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner entered on the services of the respondent Corporation on 11.09.1971. From 11.09.1971 to 30.04.1979, he worked in the health department and thereafter, he was transferred to Octroi Department in which he was working since 01.05.1979 until 30.09.1984 when his services were terminated. It is also the case of the petitioner that the petitioner's services were brought to an end on the ground that he was found sleeping at 12.30 p.m. on 30.01.1980 during his night shift at Memnagar Octroi post. The petitioner has continuously served the respondent Corporation for 13 years and during his long service record of 13 years, once on earlier occasion, he was absent without leave for one day for which he was served with a show cause notice and the present incident, otherwise the petitioner's service record was absolutely clean and without any blemish.