HIRAPADA DAS Vs. CALCUTTA PORT TRUST

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is an ex-employee of the Calcutta Port Trust, the respondent No.- 1 herein. He joined his service in the year 1964. He retired in the year 2002.

(2.) Quite some time after his retirement the petitioner was charge-sheeted in the year 2003 on the ground that he had secured his employment under the respondent No. 1 herein in the name of Sri Haripada Das, whereas his actual name was Biren Das. It was alleged that by this the petitioner had defrauded the Trustees of the respondent No.1 for illegal gain and exhibited lack of integrity and gross misconduct unbecoming of an employee of the respondent no. 1. This was followed by a departmental enquiry. He was found guilty. By an order, dated June 13, 2005/June 17, 2005, the Financial Advisor & Chief Accounts Officer who is the respondent no.- 3 herein directed that the entire pension of the petitioner was to be withdrawn permanently with immediate effect. The said order which has been annexed to the writ petition as Annexure- P-5 mentioned that the same was issued with the approval of the Chairman under Rule 7 (1) of Calcutta Port Trust Employees' (Pension) Regulations 1988.

(3.) The petitioner has given an explanation for his conduct. He says that Haripada Das was his elder brother. The petitioner was registered with the concerned Employment Exchange wrongly and mistakenly as Haripada instead of Harapada. Biren was his nick name. Haripada and Harapada were two brothers. Since these two names were phonetically close to each other the Employment Officer had committed a mistake in recording his name as Haripada instead of Harapada. Haripada is was an employee of Bata India Ltd.