PUNJAB STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD Vs. AVTAR SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) I am disposing of this appeal after going through the impugned judgments of the Courts below and after going through the records of this case.

(2.) The pleadings of the parties can be summarised in the following manner. One Avtar Singh son of Shri Gurbachan Singh, filed a suit for declaration that the order dated 19.9.1975, passed by the Chief Engineer/North, Punjab State Electricity Board, vide which two annual increments with cumulative effect, were stopped, is wrong, illegal, void, un-constitutional, arbitrary and against the principles of natural justice.

(3.) The case set-up by the plaintiff was that he joined the service of the Board on 25.10.1960 and refused to vow to illegal demands and acts of defendant No. 1. He was charge-sheeted on 21.5.1973 vide Memo No.C-595. According to the plaintiff, the order dated 19.9.1975 is illegal on the ground that the reply filed by him to the charge-sheet has not been considered by the punishing authority. The plaintiff further alleged that the order was not a speaking one and he has not been afforded any opportunity to make a representation. No inquiry has been held into the alleged charges and no witness has been examined. No material has been furnished to him on which the punishment was imposed. The show-cause notice is bad and reply to the show case notice has also not been considered.