PALAN CHANDRA NASKAR Vs. BANK OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has been working as a clerk with the respondent no. 1- bank, Sevoke Road Branch, Siliguri and was deputed at the deposit counter of the said branch during the relevant period. As per the petitioner's version, the respondent no. 4 (Vikash Agarwal) approached the counter on February 23, 2008 to deposit an amount of Rs.8,500/- and handed over the requisite pay-in-slip along with the cash. The petitioner, after affixing the stamp 'Received' on the said slip and signing the petitioner's name, noticed that there was no 'scroll number' on the pay-in-slip, allegedly required for deposit of cash as per the norms of the bank. The petitioner returned the voucher to the respondent no. 4, along with the entire amount of money, and requested respondent no. 4 to come back with the scroll number. Subsequently, respondent no. 4 did not return and left the bank, unnoticed by the petitioner. February 23, 2008 was a Saturday and, under the pressure of closing, the petitioner allegedly forgot the episode and did not report such irregularity to any superior authority.

(2.) On February 25, 2008, respondent no. 4 came to the bank and sought to withdraw Rs.7,000/-, which transaction was declined on the ground of 'insufficiency of balance', consequent to which respondent no. 4 reported the matter to the authorities, alleging that he had deposited Rs.8,500/- on February 23, 2008, which rendered the refusal invalid. Vikash also produced the counter foil of the pay-in-slip.

(3.) On February 27, 2008, the Assistant General Manager and Regional Head, Kolkata Region issued an office order of suspension against the petitioner vide letter No. AX9/ST/07-08/125/2008.