SUDHIR KUMAR JHA Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed for quashing the order contained in Memo No. 3865 dtd. 12/87/2016 whereby and wherunder the petitioner has been dismissed from service.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that the petitioner was at the relevant time posted as Superintendent of Excise, Aurangabad and pursuant to the direction issued by the Commissioner of Excise, Bihar, Patna, while discharging the duties entrusted to him, a sale notification was issued under the signature of the then Collector, Aurangabad on 18/2/2013 for settlement of excise shops of Aurangabad district for the financial year 2013-14. The petitioner is said to have assigned the task of fair and complete settlement of the shops, by his letter dtd. 18/2/2013, to the Excise Inspector, namely, Ashraf Jamal, the Sub-Inspector of Excise namely Ram Naresh Choudhary and four other clerks to collect the applications along with prescribed fee. Thereafter, the prescribed application fee to the tune of Rs.24,51,000.00 was collected and kept in a locked steel box. The said steel box, however, went missing subsequently, whereafter the petitioner had rushed to the offce and it was found on enquiry that neither any of the locks of the warehouse were broken nor there was any signs of burglary. Thereafter, the petitioner had informed the Collector regarding the alleged embezzlement of fee amount and then FIR was lodged against the then Sub-Inspector of Excise Shri Ram Naresh Choudhary, who was posted as Warehouse Officer at M/S Maa Tarni Natural Resources Pvt. Limited, a country liquor manufacturing unit cum warehouse, of the Excise Department, Aurangabad. On the basis of the FIR instituted by the petitioner, a case bearing Aurangabad Town P.S. Case No. 90 of 2013 was registered and the case was then investigated whereupon a report was submitted and the case was found to be true as against the aforesaid Shri Ram Naresh Choudhary.

(3.) The further case of the petitioner is that suddenly a show cause notice was issued to the petitioner vide letter dtd. 18/3/2013 on the charge of not reporting the aforesaid matter to the headquarter, whereafter the petitioner had filed a reply stating therein that he had immediately informed, in detail, to the Deputy Commissioner, Excise, Patna, Magadh Division as well as to the E.I.B. Inspector on his mobile phone, who had been assigned to take daily report from all the district regarding the settlement of excise shops. Thereafter, the matter appears to have been dropped inasmuch as the petitioner did not hear about any adverse steps having been taken by the department as against him. Subsequently, the aforesaid Ram Naresh Choudhary, Sub Inspector of Excise was put under suspension on the allegation of embezzlement of the application fee and thereafter a departmental proceeding was initiated against him vide letter dtd. 4/6/2013 and the petitioner was appointed as the Presenting Officer nonetheless, to the utter surprise of the petitioner, he received a letter dtd. 8/7/2013 whereby and whereunder a copy of Prapatra- "Ka" was served on the petitioner, however, without any decision of initiation of departmental proceeding. The petitioner had then replied to the said letter dtd. 8/7/2013. After a lapse of four months, the respondents issued a resolution dtd. 5/11/2013, under the signature of the Deputy Secretary, Excise and Prohibition Department, Bihar, Patna, by which a decision was taken to initiate a departmental proceeding against the petitioner. The enquiry Officer had again served praptra "Ka" on the petitioner vide his letter dtd. 3/12/2013. The petitioner had thereafter, presented himself before the enquiry Officer and submitted his reply. The enquiry Officer had then by his order dtd. 12/12/2013 specifically directed the Presenting Officer to file a written opinion of the department about the reply filed by the petitioner, however, the same was never filed. Subsequently, the enquiry Officer and the Presenting Officer were changed vide resolution dtd. 26/5/2014.