MADAN LAL Vs. REGISTRAR COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners in these two writ petitions were employed with the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited, Chandigarh (for short the Markfed ). They were dismissed from service. The appeals filed by them also failed. They have, thus, approached this Court through these petitions viz. Civil Writ Petitions Nos. 4573 of 1979 and 31 of 1980. Since the questions involved in both the cases are identical, these petitions can be disposed of by one order. Learned counsel for the parties have referred to the facts in Civil Writ Petition No. 31 of 1980. These may be briefly noticed.

(2.) THE petitioner was appointed as an Accountant 'c Grade by the Markfed, in the year 1972, he was posted as an Accountant at Dhuri. On February 10, 1977 a charge sheet was issued to him. It was inter alia alleged that he had made an overpayment of Rs. 24016. 19 to the contractor "either with malafide intention or through sheer carelessness". During the enquiry, the charge was held to have been proved. Vide order dated October 18, 1978, a copy of which has been produced as Annexure P-3 with the petition, the petitioner was ordered to be dismissed from service. He filed an appeal under Rule 2. 17 of the Common Cadre Rules, 1967. Vide order dated November 5, 1979, Mr. I. S. Bindra, IAS, who was at that time working as the Administrator, dismissed the appeal. A copy of this order has been produced as Annexure P-5 with the petition. Aggrieved by these orders, the petitioner has approached this Court through the present writ petition. The impugned orders have been challenged as being wholly without jurisdiction. It is the petitioner's case that the power to appoint an Accountant 'c Grade or to take disciplinary action against him vested only in the Administrative Committee. Since, the proceedings had been initiated and the order of dismissal had been passed by the Managing Director, the order was wholly without jurisdiction. It has been further stated that Mr. I. S. Bindra, IAS, was working as the Registrar of Cooperative Societies at the relevant time. He had been appointed as Administrator of the Markfed by Mr. A. S. Sodhi, Additional Registrar, Cooperative Societies. This appointment, according to the petitioner, was wholly illegal and as such, he had no jurisdiction to dismiss the appeal filed by the petitioner. On these premises, it has been prayed that the orders appointing Mr. I. S. Bindra as the Administrator of the Markfed passed in February 1979 as also the orders of the dismissal of the petitioner from the service of the Markfed passed by the then Managing Director and the dismissal of his appeal, be set aside.

(3.) THE tactual and legal issues raised in the other writ petition No. 4573 of 1979 are identical to those as noticed above. The only fact which deserves notice is that the petitioner Madan Lal was working as a Field Sub Inspector.