THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.18765 of 2009 Dated: 29.12.2009 Between: G. Srinivasulu … Petitioner And The Depot Manager, APSRTC, Nagarkurnool Bus Depot., Mahaboobnagar Dist., A.P. … Respondent THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.18765 of 2009 ORDER: The petitioner herein is working as a Conductor in APSRTC, Nagarkurnool Bus Depot. This writ petition is filed seeking a declaration that the order passed by the respondent dated 30.01.2009 proposing to recover a sum of Rs.17,779/- from the salary of the petitioner in 15 instalments towards cost of loss of ticket blocks as arbitrary and illegal. It is not in dispute that an enquiry was held with regard to the loss of Tray No.073 with Ticket Blocks while the petitioner was conducting the Bus on 27.08.2007 and ultimately the impugned order came to be passed holding that the value of the tickets which worked out as Rs.17,799/- shall be recovered from the petitioner since it was the bounden duty of the petitioner who was the custodian of the tray of the tickets to secure the property of the Corporation. Aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition is filed contending that there was no negligence on the part of the petitioner and at any rate, since there was no revenue loss to the Corporation to the extent of Rs.17,799/-, the recovery sought to be made under the impugned order is arbitrary and illegal. I have heard the learned counsel for both the parties and perused the material available on record including the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the Corporation. Regulation 8 of the APSRTC (CCA) Regulations, 1967, which provides for penalties runs as under : 8. Penalties: (1) The following penalties may, for good and sufficient reason and as hereinafter provided, be imposed upon an employee namely:- (i) … … … …. … (ii) … … … …. … (iii) … … … …. … (iv) … … … …. … (v) recovery from pay of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to the Corporation by an employee’s negligence or breach of orders; …. … … … …. … … A plain reading of the above provision shows that recovery can be ordered by the Corporation from pay of the employee of any pecuniary loss caused to the Corporation by negligence on the part of such employee or on account of breach of orders. Even assuming that the petitioner is responsible for the loss of the tray containing the ticket blocks, as per Regulation 8 (1) (v) the Corporation is entitled only to recover the cost incurred by it in printing the said tickets together with tray. No other clause could be pointed out empowering the Corporation to impose the penalty of recovery of amount more than the amount of loss suffered by the Corporation. Admittedly the loss that was suffered by the Corporation was only the cost that was incurred by the Corporation for printing the ticket blocks and the cost of the tray. Hence though it is open to the Corporation to recover the said amount from the petitioner, the impugned order to recover the amount which the lost tickets could have fetched if they were sold to the passengers travelling in the bus is without authority and illegal. In identical circumstances, in CH. P. REDDY v. A.P. STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION[1] this Court held that since the charge was essentially of loosing the tickets, the petitioner therein could not be punished for any other charge and consequently the Corporation could not be allowed to recover the value of tickets lost. The petitioner herein is also similarly situated and admittedly there is no allegation of any fraud against the petitioner. In the circumstances, the impugned order is hereby set aside and the Writ Petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to pass appropriate orders afresh in the light of the observations made above. No costs. ____________ G.ROHINI, J. Dt. 24.12.2009 gbs [1] 2000 (5) ALT 7