THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO W.P.NO. 21234 OF 2010 ORDER: In view of the judgment rendered by a Division Bench of this Court in Md.Ghouse vs. Correspondent, Dakshina Bharat Hindi Pracharasabha, Hyderabad[1], no writ would lie against Dakshina Bharat Hindi Pracharasabha and hence this writ petition is dismissed at the admission stage without going into the merits of the matter. No costs. --------------------------------- Nooty Ramamohana Rao, J Dt : 30.8.2010 knk WVMP in WP No. 13274 Learned counsel for the vacate stay petitioner seeks permission to withdraw the WVMP inasmuch as the writ petitioner has already been reinstated into duty as constable. Therefore, permission is accorded. WVMP is dismissed. No costs. WP No. 5032 The petitioner was employed as a conductor with the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (for short `APSRTC’) and he is attached to Suryapet Depot alleging certain cash and ticket irregularities said to have been committed by him on 19.3.2006 while conducting a bus belonging to APSRTC, the petitioner has been subjected to disciplinary enquiry which resulted in an order of punishment passed by the Depot Manager imposing the punishment of deferment of annual increment for a period of two years. The writ petitioner preferred an appeal there against to the Divisional Manager, Suryapet, who passed orders on 18.10.2006 modifying the punishment imposed by the Depot Manager, as deferment of increment for a period of one year which will have effect on his future increments. In other words, the Divisional Manager while reducing the withholding period of annual grade increment to one year has converted the same with cumulative effect. Then the writ petitioner carried the matter to the revisional authority viz., the Regional Manager, Nalgonda who confirmed the orders passed by the Divisional Manager through his orders dated 30.6.2008. Hence, the present writ petition has been instituted. It is contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner Sri Narasimha Goud that stoppage of annual grade increment for a period of one year would amount to imposing the punishment in terms of impacting the petitioner with loss of money. In other words, his pay will not get increased by addition of the annual grade increment for a period of one year. As soon as this period of one year expires the annual grade increment which was withheld will get revived. In contrast, if the increment has been withheld with cumulative effect, he will never be earning the increment during the running time of the scale of pay and will also naturally have an impact upon his terminal benefits. Learned counsel for the writ petitioner, though not complimentarily draws my attention to the judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in MP State Agro Industries Development Corporation Ltd v. Jahan Khan, wherein the Supreme Court has pointed out that withholding of increments with cumulative effect is to be treated as a major penalty…………… on the entire tenure of the service of the employee.” In this view of the matter, when the learned Standing Counsel for the Corporation has been confronted as to how such a major punishment can be imposed by the appellate/revisional authorities, without even putting the employee concerned on notice, the learned Standing Counsel has fairly submitted that such an action is impermissible, in principle. But, however, the learned Standing Counsel tried to justify the action of the appellate authority by pointing out that the regulations of the APSRTC Employees CCA Regulations do not make a clear cut distinction between imposition of punishment that and without cumulative effect and hence the appellate authority is intended to independently apply his mind and come to a conclusion as to whether that part of the proven misconduct on the part of the writ petitioner would justify imposition of punishment of ……. With cumulative effect or not I am not afraid that this contention canvassed by the learned Standing Counsel cannot be accepted. Firstly, even if the ASPRTC Employees CCA Regulations [1] 2002 Suppl (2) ALD 463