“For Petitioner         :  Mr.M.Ravi For Respondents    :  Mr.T.Chezhiyan, AGP ORDER The petitioner has filed this Writ”

[08/05, 08:44] sekarreporter1: “For Petitioner         :  Mr.M.Ravi

For Respondents    :  Mr.T.Chezhiyan, AGP

ORDER The petitioner has filed this Writ”

MS.JUSTICE R.N.MANJULA W.P.No.17912 of 2018 and W.M.P.No.21210 of 2018

[08/05, 08:44] sekarreporter1: “Mr.M.Ravi, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the co-delinquents were also involved in the occurrence and the petitioner alone was imposed with the major punishment of dismissal from service; no joint enquiry was conducted; the petitioner has been discriminated and affected due to the inordinate delay of 10 years.”

MS.JUSTICE R.N.MANJULA W.P.No.17912 of 2018 and W.M.P.No.21210 of 2018

[08/05, 09:34] sekarreporter1: [08/05, 09:32] sekarreporter1: The petitioner was working as a Village Administrative Officer at Ariyalur, Namakkal District. The second respondent issued a charge memo on 26.04.2006 under Rule 17(b) of the Tamil Nadu Civil Service (D&A) Rules. It is alleged that some irregularities have occurred in the issuance of patta in respect of lands in Survey Nos.94/2 & 93/3 in Tholur Village. Even the above charge memo was subsequently withdrawn and a revised charge memo was issued on 14.11.2006 and the petitioner submitted his explanation on 15.11.2006 denying the charges. The Enquiry Officer conducted the enquiry and submitted his report stating that the charges against the petitioner were not proved. Though the petitioner attained the age of superannuation on 31.12.2007, he was not allowed to retire. After ten years, the first respondent passed a final order by imposing the penalty of dismissal from service against the petitioner.

Mr.M.Ravi, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the co-delinquents were also involved in the occurrence and the petitioner alone was imposed with the major punishment of dismissal from service; no joint enquiry was conducted; the petitioner has been discriminated and affected due to the inordinate delay of 10 years.
Mr.T.Chezhiyan, learned Additional Government Pleader for the respondents submitted that the duties and responsibilities of the Village Administrative Officer are different from other delinquents such as Tahsildar and Deputy Tahsildar.
[08/05, 09:33] sekarreporter1: The above preposition of law has been followed in several judgments of this Court and in the case of B.Maximus Vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Others (W.P.No.34197 of 2016 dated 12.04.2022), a reference has been made to various judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and held that the inordinate and unexplained delay can alone be the reason to set aside the penalty.
In the case in hand, the petitioner has made out his case not only on the ground of delay, but also by raising various grounds of discrimination in the matter of punishment imposed against different levels of officers involved in the same occurrence and the absence of oral evidence during 17(b) enquiry and not furnishing of copy of the recommendation of the Commission and they have been found to be correct. Hence, I feel it is appropriate to set aside the impugned order and grant the relief as sought for. Though it is also possible to remit the matter back to the first respondent to decide afresh, by considering the delay of more than a decade, I feel a finality should be given. As the petitioner was not allowed to retire from the year 2007 in view of the pending proceedings, I prefer to set aside the order by granting the reliefs.
In the result, this Writ Petition is allowed and the order passed by the first respondent in G.O.(2D).No.303, Revenue Department and Disaster Management Services Wing Ser 4(1) dated 16.10.2017 is set aside and the respondents are directed to permit the petitioner to retire with effect from 31.12.2007 and grant him all the consequential and pensionary benefits and pass appropriate orders in this regard within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
[08/05, 12:15] sekarreporter1: https://youtu.be/blEOWUWW3NU?si=MCto6LltEaR2sF1t
[08/05, 13:32] sekarreporter1: https://youtu.be/blEOWUWW3NU?si=MCto6LltEaR2sF1t