NARESH MIRCHANDANI Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Naresh Mirchandani, working as Junior Technical Assistant in Panchayat Samiti Girwal has approached this Court by way of present writ petition against the impugned action against the respondent-Panchayat Samiti, Girwa to recover a sum of Rs. 2,39,986/- from him which was on account of various defalcation and irregularities in the contracts executed under his supervisor while he was working under N.R.E.G.A. Scheme under the said Panchayat Samiti. A copy of the enquiry report of Social Audit Department of Panchayat Raj Department of Government of Rajasthan forwarded to the District Collector and Coordinator of the said Scheme in Udaipur vide Annexure-1 dated 15.4.2010 pointing out all the grounds and amount of recovery from 4 of the employees of said Panchayat Samiti namely, Murlidhar Vyas, Junior Technical Assistant, the present petitioner, Naresh Mirchandani-Junior Technical Assistant and Sh. Adarsh Agarwal, Junior Technical Assistant and one Gram Sewak and vide Annexure-2 communication dated 4.5.2010, these persons were called upon to deposit a sum of Rs. 3,84,027/- in terms of aforesaid enquiry report dated 15.4.2010 for having caused financial loss to the respondent-Panchayat Samiti in execution of the contracts under the N.R.E.G.A. Scheme.

(2.) The Development Officer of the said Panchayat Samiti Girwa gave notice to the petitioner vide Annexure-3 dated 10.5.2010 alongwith copy of the aforesaid enquiry report and called upon the petitioner to deposit a sum of Rs. 2,39,986/- as aforesaid. Another notice Annexure-4 dated 1.6.2010 was served upon him for the same purpose. The response of the petitioner vide Annexure-5 dated 4.6.2010 was that that since he was not given full opportunity of hearing before passing the recovery order on 1.6.2010, on account of workmen's strike on that point of time, therefore, opportunity of hearing may be given to him. In these circumstances, the petitioner preferred this writ petition in this Court on 26.6.2010.

(3.) The learned Counsel for the petitioner, Mr. T.S. Rathore has urged that another writ petition being S.B.C.W.P. No. 5692/2010 Adarsh Agarwal v. State of Rajasthan and others filed by one of the aforesaid four employees. Sh. Adarsh Agarwal, another Junior Technical Assistant has been allowed by this Court on 7.4.2011 and therefore, he urged that the present writ petition also deserves to be allowed on the same ground of not giving adequate and reasonable opportunity of hearing to the petitioner before directing the recovery of the said amount in view of purported financial losses caused by them in the contracts executed under the N.R.E.G.A. Scheme.