RANJIT KUMAR DAS Vs. KATWA MUNICIPALITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A dismissed employee of Katwa Municipality has filed the instant writ petition challenging the order of his dismissal from service on the ground that he having been acquitted of charge under Section 409 of Indian Penal Code by the Criminal Court under Section 235(1) of Criminal Procedure Code, the departmental proceeding which was initiated against him on identical charge ought to have been dropped by the disciplinary authority and no punishment should have been awarded upon him. The said dismissed employee was initially appointed as a clerk in the said Municipality. Subsequently he was transferred to the post of a cashier. On 15th June 1992, he prepared two deposit challans; one for depositing a sum of Rs.10,000.00 and another for depositing a sum of Rs.2,981.69P, in the current account of the said Municipality with the State bank of India, Katwa Branch. Two separate bundles of money were created. In one of such bundles a sum of Rs.10,000.00 was kept and in the other bundle a sum of Rs.2,981.69P was kept. The challans and those two bundles of money were kept in a bag and the same was handed over to a peon namely Sri Gopi Krishna Chatterjee for depositing the said money with the bank in the account of the said Municipality. The said peon, without verifying the contents of the said bag, went to deposit the said money to the bank and it was detected in the cash counter of the bank that the bundle containing ten thousand rupees was not available in the bag. The said money could not be recovered and/or traced out subsequently.

(2.) Under this circumstances, departmental proceeding was initiated against both the aforesaid employees by the Municipality. On a complaint made by the Municipal Authority, criminal cases were also initiated against both of them on the charge of breach of trust under Section 409 of Indian Penal Code. Both of them were ultimately acquitted in the said criminal proceeding primarily on the following two grounds:-

(3.) Thus, it was held that the prosecution has failed to prove the charge under Section 409 of Indian Penal Code against the accused persons beyond all reasonable doubts.