STATE OF ASSAM Vs. AJIT SONOWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This intra-court appeal, preferred by the State, arises out of the judgement and order dtd. 22/4/2021 passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C) No. 2409/2020 whereby, a bunch of writ petitions were disposed of by interfering with the orders of suspension impugned in those proceedings primarily on the ground that the orders of suspension had not been reviewed within a period of 90 days. The operative part of the order dtd. 22/4/2021 is quoted herein below for ready reference :-

(2.) The appellant's case, in a nut-shell, is that since the order placing the respondent No1 under suspension was issued under Rule 6 (2) of the Assam Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1964,(for short "Rules of 1964" ) there was no requirement for the Disciplinary Authority to periodically review the order inasmuch as, the ratio laid down in the case of Ajay Kumar Choudhary Vs. Union of India through its Secretary and Anr. reported in (2015) 7 SCC 291 would not be applicable in the facts of this case.

(3.) It appears from the materials available on record that while working as an Accounts Officer in the office of the Executive Engineer, North Lakhimpur PHE Division, the writ petitioner/respondent was caught red-handed while accepting bribe. He was arrested in connection with ACB PS Case No. 15/2019 registered under Sec. 7(a) of the Preven tion of Corruption Act, 1988 and subsequently released on bail. However, in view of Sec. 6(2) of the Rules of 1964, the Disciplinary Authority had placed him under suspension by order dtd. 7/12/2019.