(1.) THE petitioner, an officer of the Judicial Services of this State, has challenged the order of the High Court on the administrative side dated 11 -2 -2005 (Annexure - 11) whereby the petitioner has been deprived of three increments by withholding the same with cumulative effect. The matter has been contested by the High Court and a counter -affidavit has been filed sworn by Shri P.K. Goel, Joint Registrar (Inspection) denying the allegations contained in the writ petition.
(2.) WE have heard Shri N.C. Rajvanshi, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner and Shri Amit Sthalekar, Advocate for the respondent High Court and the learned Standing Counsel for the respondent No. 1.
(3.) THE facts, in short, of the case in which the petitioner had passed the aforesaid orders, were that Atul Mehrotra had been charged of having cheated the Punjab National Bank, Birhana Road Branch, Kanpur Nagar by defrauding it, an amount of Rs. 9,78,969/ - (Rupees Nine Lacs Seventy Eight Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty Nine only). The accused had been charged of having resorted to forgery and manipulation of bank accounts and documents. According to the prosecution case, the accused was liable to be punished for imprisonment with life on such charges being proved, and as such, the officer concerned committed a gross error of jurisdiction by extending the benefit of bail to the accused on the same day when he surrendered before the Court. Further, this was not a case where the accused ought to have been discharged and the order passed by the officer was, therefore, an act of undue haste.