Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has refused to interfere with a 2008 order of Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) confirming departmental penal action of stopping increment for three years in case of a prison guard who was found carrying 40 grams of brown sugar at Yerwada central prison in Pune more than a decade ago.
The guard claimed that he was acquitted by the trial court and hence the departmental action of imposing penalty of stopping increment was not legally justified.
A division bench, however, held, "merely because a government servant may have been acquitted in criminal prosecution, that by itself, is neither a bar to commence departmental proceedings nor a bar to hold the charges in the departmental enquiry, as proved.
The bench also held that the charge levelled against the prison guard was "quite serious".
During the trial, however, departmental action was taken against him by stopping his increment for three years following which he challenged the same before MAT which later confirmed penal step against the prison guard and dismissed his plea.
The lawyer of prison guard, Nitin Dalvi, submitted that the foundation of the charge in the disciplinary proceedings and foundation of charge in the NDPS prosecution launched against the petitioner was one and the same.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The guard claimed that he was acquitted by the trial court and hence the departmental action of imposing penalty of stopping increment was not legally justified.
A division bench, however, held, "merely because a government servant may have been acquitted in criminal prosecution, that by itself, is neither a bar to commence departmental proceedings nor a bar to hold the charges in the departmental enquiry, as proved.
The bench also held that the charge levelled against the prison guard was "quite serious".
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During the trial, however, departmental action was taken against him by stopping his increment for three years following which he challenged the same before MAT which later confirmed penal step against the prison guard and dismissed his plea.
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The lawyer of prison guard, Nitin Dalvi, submitted that the foundation of the charge in the disciplinary proceedings and foundation of charge in the NDPS prosecution launched against the petitioner was one and the same.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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