UNION OF INDIA Vs. P C CHOUDHURY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal by the Union of India, the Divisional superintendent Eastern Railway, howrah and the Secretary Ministry of railway against the judgment and order of Amiya Kumar Mukherjee, J. dated september 2, 1974. By the impugned judgment, the order of dismissal removing the petitioners respondents from service was quashed by a writ of certiorari. In this appeal, we are now concerned with the purported dismissal of the respondent No. 1 from service, and the appeal stands allowed in respect of other respondents.

(2.) THE dismissal order removing the respondent No. 1 from service was passed during the all India strike of the railway men in May 1974. By an order dated May 12, 1974 P. W. Impiety, the Divisional Superintendent, eastern Railway, Howrah, decided that in the attending circumstances it was not reasonably practicable to hold any enquiry against the petitioner and some other railway staff mentioned in the order as required under the Railway servants (Discipline and Appeal)Rules, 1968. It was further decided therein in exercise of the powers vested in the said authority under Rule 14 (ii)of the said Rules that the petitioner should be removed from service.

(3.) THE order was challenged on various grounds by an application under Article 226 (1) of the Constitution and in disposing the connected Rule issued thereon, the learned Judge made the Rule absolute following his judgment in Jyoti Prasad Banerjee v. Chief mechanical Engineer, Eastern Railway, 1975 (1) C. L. J. 75. On appeal the contentions made on behalf of the Railways against the said judgment ware accepted by us and by our judgment in Chief Mechanical Engineer Eastern railway and others V. Jyoti Prasad banerjee, reported in 1975 (2) C. L. J. 537 _ 79 C. W. N. 709 we allowed the appeal and discharged the connected rules.