SABYASACHI SINGH Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has challenged a departmental charge-sheet issued by the competent authority under a memorandum dated 01.09.2018.

(2.) Briefly stated the facts are that at the relevant time the petitioner, who is a TCS (Grade-II) Officer of the State Government, was discharging duties as a District Panchayat Officer. Certain proceedings for certain references for enhancement of compensation of private lands acquired, were pending before the District Court. The proceedings were referred to Lok Adalat where a settlement was arrived at between the claimants and the Government. The Government challenged the settlement before the High Court by filing Civil Revision Petitions which were disposed of by a Division Bench of this Court by an order dated 26.07.2017. The settlements were set aside on the ground that the settlements were signed by the representative of the Land Acquisition Officer but approval was not accorded by the requiring department. The Court held that in absence of requiring department no reference could be settled.

(3.) Subsequently, a show-cause notice dated 01.09.2018 came to be issued to the petitioner by the Additional Secretary and Director, Tribal Welfare Department, Government of Tripura calling upon the petitioner why for settling the land reference case at a high rate of compensation without concurrence from the Government departmental proceedings should not be initiated against him. The petitioner replied to the said show-cause notice under a communication dated 10.09.2018. Subsequently departmental charge-sheet came to be issued against the petitioner under memorandum dated 07.02.2019 and several charges have been levelled against the petitioner. The foundation of the charges being that in the process of settling the claims of the claimants in the said land reference cases, the petitioner had agreed to pay excessive compensation without concurrence from the department and thus acted in a manner unbecoming of a Government servant. This charge-sheet the petitioner has challenged in the present petition.