ARUNA KUMARI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed for quashing the order dated 20.12.2016 by which the services of the petitioner as Child Development Project Officer, Goah, Aurangabad has been terminated.

(2.) The petitioner has further prayed for quashing the report dated 26.11.2015 and for directing the authorities to restore the services of the petitioner.

(3.) The brief facts of the case are that the petitioner herein was duly appointed to the post of Child Development Project Officer, Gopalpur, Bhagalpur in the year 2008 and thereafter was posted at Goah, Aurangabad in the year 2011. During her service a complaint dated 17.7.2014 was filed by one Padmawati Kumari, an Anganwari Sevika of village-Hamidnagar, District-Aurangabad before the Superintendent of Police, Economic Offences Unit, Patna alleging that on 07.07.2014, the petitioner had directed the said complainant to go to the Primary Health Centre for training the children and thereafter the petitioner had made a surprise inspection of Anganwari Centre No. 41, Hamidnagar. On 08.07.2014, the said complainant is said to have been asked to go to the office of the petitioner on 09.07.2014 at 2:00 P.M. by a mobile call made by the driver of the petitioner and when the complainant had met the petitioner a demand of Rs. 10,000/- was made from the complainant. Thereafter, a pre-trap memorandum and a post trap memorandum was prepared and an FIR bearing Patna Economic Case No. 31 of 2014 dated 17.07.2014 was instituted against the petitioner under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. As per the post trap memorandum, an amount of Rs. 10,000/- is shown to have been recovered from the purse of the petitioner. In light of the institution of the aforesaid FIR, a departmental proceeding was initiated against the petitioner and a charge sheet dated 10.11.2014 was issued to the petitioner vide letter dated 14.11.2014 on the allegation of being caught red handed while taking bribe of Rs. 10,000/- from Sevika namely Padmawati Kumari.