STATE OF TELANGANA Vs. C.KRISHNA REDDY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The short issue that needs to be considered by this Court in this writ petition is whether respondent No.1 is entitled to salary and other pay and allowances during his suspension period from 16.03.2007 to 01.09.2008 and also whether he is entitled for his suspension period to be treated as on leave or as on duty.

(2.) Respondent No.1, who faced disciplinary proceedings, suffered penalty of reversion from the cadre of Principal to that of Junior Lecturer in Zoology, by petitioner No.2s proceedings, dated 28.08.2008. Feeling aggrieved by the said proceedings, respondent No.1 has filed an appeal before petitioner No.1. On considering his appeal along with the appeals of similarly placed persons, petitioner No.1 issued G.O.Rt.No.534, Higher Education (IE.I) Department, dated 28.07.2010, whereby the penalty imposed on respondent No.1 and three others was reduced to that of stoppage of two annual grade increments, without cumulative effect, which is a minor penalty. Before the said order was passed, respondent No.1 approached petitioner No.2, by way of a representation, for regulating his suspension period, by sanctioning eligible leave of 536 days, for the period from 16.03.2007 to 01.09.2008. After examining the said representation, petitioner No.2 passed an order, dated 18.03.2010, accepting the aforesaid request and sanctioned half pay leave. Following the subsequent order in G.O.Rt.No.534, dated 28.07.2010, passed in appeal, by petitioner No.1, respondent No.1 made a representation, dated 05.01.2011, to the said petitioner, with a request to waive the punishment already reduced and also treat the periods of suspension as on duty. By memo, dated 18.08.2011, petitioner No.1 rejected this request. Assailing this memo, respondent No.1 filed O.A.No.7621 of 2012 before the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad (for short the Tribunal) respondent No.2. He has also sought for a consequential direction to the petitioners to treat the suspension period from 16.03.2007 to 01.09.2008 as on duty and pay salary, allowances and other consequential benefits during that period. By the impugned order, dated 27.01.2015, this O.A. was allowed by the Tribunal, based on its earlier order, dated 02.09.2014, in O.A.No.9314 of 2012 and a direction was issued to the petitioners to treat the aforementioned period as on duty with salary and other consequential benefits. Feeling aggrieved by this order, the State of Telangana and the Commissioner of Intermediate Education (TS) filed this writ petition.

(3.) At the hearing, the learned Government Pleader for Services (TS) appearing for the petitioners has submitted that the Tribunal has committed an error in allowing O.A.No.7621 of 2012 filed by respondent No.1, without noticing G.O.Ms.No.214, Finance & Planning (FW.FR.II) Department, dated 22.12.2007, under which, the proviso to Sub -Rule (5) of F.R.54 -B of the Andhra Pradesh Fundamental Rules (for short the Rules) is deleted. He has placed before the Court, a copy of the said G.O.