THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GODA RAGHURAM WRIT PETITION No.526 of 2003 ORDER : Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel for the respondent – Andhra Bank. An officer of the respondent – bank, who was inflicted the penalty of compulsory retirement by an order dated 23-04-2001 by the Chief Manager and Disciplinary Authority, is before this Court seeking invalidation of the said order. At the relevant time, the petitioner was serving as an officer in the Wanaparthy Branch. He was issued a charge memo, dated 28-03-2000 alleging serious irregularities in respect of various accounts in his branch and that his conduct amounted to lack of integrity, honesty, diligence, devotion and failure to protect the interests of the bank and committing breach of Regulation 3(1) of Andhra Bank Officer Employees’ (Conduct) Regulations. The charge memo comprised 8 pages of details with regard to the several irregularities alleged against the petitioner of crediting amounts received by the Branch towards crop insurance claims and crediting them to the account of the petitioner and his brother backdating Sulabh SOD Account No.96/2 to get undeserved interest benefit; altering the debits in another account; unauthorized crediting of an amount to his own account; and other serious irregularities. In his explanation dated 21-02-2001, the petitioner after a self- adulatory account of his own earlier performance stated that during the relevant period his wife suffered illness on account of epilepsy which he had to take care of and on account of the domestic turmoil and being the only officer in the branch he was working with tension and might have committed certain lapses which were pointed out in the charge- sheet; that there was no financial loss to the bank and the lapses may be condoned since he has a family consisting of three daughters and number of responsibilities. An enquiry officer was appointed and due process of enquiry was held. The Inquiring Authority, after inquiry, found the petitioner guilty and furnished his report to the disciplinary authority. The disciplinary authority by the order dated 23-04-2001 imposed the penalty of compulsory retirement from service on the petitioner. There against, he preferred an appeal to the second respondent which was rejected by an order dated 25-07-2001. A review was preferred to the third respondent which was rejected on 11-04-2002. The order of compulsory retirement imposed is challenged inter alia on the substantive ground that there is no specificity in the charge. The charge is a breezy allegation of having committed certain serious irregularities in various accounts, is the contention. The above contention is stated to be rejected. The detailed statement of the imputations pertaining to the generic charge framed, of committing serious allegations is set out in pages 2 to 9 of the charge memo, dated 28-03-2000, which reads as under: “1. You have misappropriated the amount received by the branch towards Crop Insurance claims and have defrauded the Bank to a tune of Rs.10,688-00. Instead of passing on credit to the accounts of the concerned beneficiaries, you have misappropriated the amounts by crediting them to the following accounts. Sl. No. Date Credited to A/c.holder’s Name Amount Rs. 1. 18.1.98 AGSB 5037 T. Nagaraju (Your brother) 4364-00 2. 19.3.98 AGSB 5037 T. Nagaraju (Your brother 2111-00 3. 8.1.98 AGSB 10362 T. Gopalakrishna (Yourself) 1203-00 4. 8.1.98 AGSB 10362 T. Gopalakrishna (Yourself) 3010-00 TOTAL : 10,688-00 2.(a) You have availed a Sulabh SOD No.96/2 with a limit of Rs.47,000/- in the branch. You have put the date of credit transactions in the ledger as of earlier dates, so as to get interest benefit, which works out to Rs.7,218/-. Details of such credits are as follows: Date shown in the ledger Actual date as per voucher Amount Rs. 02.07.96 19.09.96 47,000-00 22.10.96 24.12.96 17,900-00 08.01.97 21.03.97 40,000-00 04.04.97 20.06.97 41,000-00 02.07.97 19.09.97 42,000-00 04.10.97 04.11.97 36,400-00 20.04.98 27.06.98 38,000-00 (b) You have altered the debit of Rs.3,000/- in SOD No.94/29 of Mr.Khasim to Rs.33,000/- on 19.9.97 and the difference of Rs.30,000/- is credited to your SOD A/c.96/2 together with some other amount. You have debited your SOD 96/2 for Rs.35,000/- on 23.9.97 while voucher was for Rs.5,000/- only, to nullify the difference of Rs.30,000/- of 19.9.97 misappropriated by you, causing a financial loss of Rs.30,000/- to the Bank. (c) You have unauthorisedly credited an amount of Rs.3,000/- to your SOD A/c. No.96/2 on 29.6.98 being the cheque No.449605 dt.18.6.98 fvg.Mr.G.Rambhupal, issued by M/s.Rajasimha Mineral Industries (OCC A/c.No.104). 3. You have withdrawn an amount ofRs.30,000/- from SOD 96/4 on 28.10.96 signing on the reverse of the voucher unauthorisedly, while voucher does not bear any signature of the accountholder. You have not posted the entry in the ledger. You have adjusted the amount with a cash voucher for Rs.30,000/- on 29.10.96 and this entry is also not posted in the ledger, to nullify the amount misappropriated by you on 28.10.96. 4. You have availed deposit loans at the branch against deposits standing in the name of yourself and your family members. You have put the dates earlier/later than the actual date of credit/debit, to get interest benefit, details of which are as follows: Sl. No. Deposit Loan No. Date of entry in the ledger Actual date of Cr./Dr. Amount Rs. Revenue Leakage- Rs. 1. 96/34 16.08.96 13.08.96(Dr) 20,821-00 25-00 2. 96/61 07.10.96 24.12.96(cr) 29,500-00 1024-00 3. 97/129 13.11.97 27.12.97(cr) 27,648-00 367-00 4. 97/135 27.11.97 27.12.97(cr) 19,500-00 249-00 5. 97/160 11.04.97 23.06.97(cr) 27,000-00 848-00 Total : 2513-00 5. You have unauthorisedly debited an amount of Rs.53,800/- on 6.1.98 to AGSB A/c.No.5037 of Mr.T.Nagaraju, and passed on credit to DL No.97/162 for Rs.27,783/- and misappropriated an amount of Rs.26,017/- by transferring to your SOD A/c.No.98. 6. You have misappropriated a total amount of Rs.31,410/- by crediting to ASB A/cs. of yourself andyour brother (without credit vouchers), instead of giving credit to the P&L A/c. being exchange on CBPs, details of which are as follows: S.No. Date Amount Credited to A/c.holder’s name 1. 19.03.98 6,473-00 ASB 5037 T.Nagaraju(Your brother) 2. 26.03.98 10,754-00 ASB 5037 T.Nagaraju(Your brother) 3. 17.01.98 14,183-00 ASB10362 T.Gopalakrishna(Yourself) Total : 31,410-00 7. You have sent OBCs No.249, 250 and 410 to Dhone branch for collection without entering in the OBC Register and also have not collected Postage and commission, causing a loss of revenue for Rs.552/- 8. You have opened ASB A/c.No.10464 in the name of C.Lakshmi Devi instead of minor’s name, on receipt of a demand draft dated 20.1.98 favouring “Yourselves SB A/c. C. Venkateswarlu BMFG C.Lakshmi Devi” from Palkur branch for Rs.37,382-34. You have debited an amount of Rs.37,000/- on 27.1.98 and opened a KTD No.97/288 with effect from 13.6.97 for 9 months. KTD is paid for Rs.39,553/- in cash on 13.3.98 including an amount of Rs.2,553/- towards interest. The deposit was not eligible for any interest, as retrospective effect given is not in accordance with the rules, thereby a loss of Rs.2,553/- is caused. 9. You have not credited an amount of Rs.1400/- to RT loan a/c.No.96/11, even though the amount was received by you on 4.11.97 from the borrower Mr.B.Ramachandra Reddy. 10. You have collected BC No.40 for Rs.39,100/- fvg. T.Nagaraju, without lodging in the OBC Register and placed the proceeds in FDR No.97/7 for 3 months, and FDR is cancelled after two days and Rs.2100/- is credited to your account on 15.5.97, without collecting commission of Rs.135/-. 11. You have debited an amount of Rs.150/- to CD A/c.No.35 of M/s.Sujatha Minerals and cash is received by you, without authorisation of the depositor. 12. You have debited an amount of Rs.2100/- to SB A/c.No.213 and the same is transferred to SB A/c.No.1066 fvg.R.M.Gopal, without proper authorisation. 13. You have cancelled and paid cash to Mr.B.Ch.Naganna cancelling two KTDs, one for Rs.6,000/- (KTD 94/27) and another for Rs.8,000/- (KTD 95/67) on 27.9.96 of B.Mallamma (Deceased) without sanction of claims. 14. You have paid an amount of Rs.20,250/- under overdue KTD No.89-90/105 of the deceased Smt.T.Venkatamma and renewed the deposit for Rs.40,000/- in the name of Mr.K.Rama Kesava Reddy, on 31.10.96 without sanction of claim. 15. You have disbursed an amount of Rs.2,00,000/- under SSI TL for purchase of crushers on 28.5.98 to the credit of CD A/c.of M/s.R.R.Reddy Minerals for Rs.1,70,000/- and to AGSB A/c.No.5218 of Mr.B.Siva Sankar Reddy for Rs.30,000/- instead of issuing DD to the suppliers. 16. On 27.5.97, you have disbursed the loan No.SSI 96/9 to Mr.K.Raju, Proprietor of M/s.Mallikarjuna Minerals in cash for Rs.2,00,000/- instead of making payment to the suppliers through DDs violating the sanction terms and conditions. 17. You have paid KTD 95/4 fvg.K.Somi Reddy for Rs.10,000/- on 31.1.97 without discharge from the depositor and renewed the amount in the name of Mr.K.Nageswara Reddy. 18. You have cancelled prematurely and paid KTD 92/43 and 92/44 fvg. S.Hari Prasad and S.Subhashini BMMG Ratnamma for Rs.5,000/- each without authorisation from the guardian to Mr.S.Ashok Kumar, and did not collect penal interest of 1% amounting to Rs.904/-. 19. You have opened KTDs as follows from the proceeds of DD from Palkur branch fvg. C.Lakshmi Devi on 12.12.97 with retrospective effect from 13.6.97, without any valid reason. Sl. No. KTD No. Amount-Rs. Depositor’s name 1. 97/240 52,500-00 C.Prabhavathi BMMG C.Lakshmi Devi 2. 97/241 50,000-00 C.Rajeswari BMMG C.Lakshmi Devi 3. 97/243 50,000-00 C.Prabhavathi BMMG C.Lakshmi Devi 4. 97/244 50,000-00 C.Rajeswari BMMG C.Lakshmi Devi You have cancelled KTDs 97/240, 241 and 243 prematurely on 27.12.97 and paid interest from 13.6.97 to 27.12.97 and re-deposited Rs.25,000/-. You have paid an excess interest of Rs.3,904/- in respect of KTD 97/240 & 97/241 and Rs.952/- in respect of KTD 97/243 respectively. 20. You have allowed loan No.RT/PMRY/96/33 for Rs.47,500/- to R.Pratap Reddy on 12.12.96 and issued a pay order in the name of Sri Sanjeeva Lakshmi Minerals. But you have credited the amount to CD A/c.No.25 of R.Rammohan Reddy, who is cousin of the borrower and whose CD A/c. is debited for providing margin money of Rs.2500/- for the loan out of the proceeds of the pay order. 21. You have collected lesser interest amount of Rs.4,338/- while closing SEEUY loan a/c.No.BE/89/1 (B&D), causing loss to the bank. 22. You have allowed cash advance against Credit Card No.4511 5000 2503 8830 for Rs.10,000/- each on 27.11.97 and 26.3.98 as against eligible amount of Rs.5000/-. 23. You have issued a DD for Rs.30,000/- fvg.Executive Officer, Nallikunta Anjaneya Swamy Temple on 8.11.97 without collecting Rs.60/- being exchange on DDs. 24. You have not collected IBR commission of Rs.69/- on 23.9.97 in respect of FDRs No.97/22 and 97/23, when the amount was collected from other Bank. 25. You have purchased and encashed the cheques of other payees without proper authorisation, details of which are as follows:- Sl. No. ICBP No. Date Payee’s Name Amount Rs. 1. 64 21.5.98 A.Subbamma 1890-00 2. 69 29.5.98 S.R.Pratap 51-00 3. 86 11.8.98 S.R.Pratap 103-00 26. You have drawn an amount of Rs.1,000/- from Sundry Debtors towards purchase of stamps on 2.11.96 and reversed the same to Indian Stamps A/c. as per vouchers but neither you have debited the amount to Sundry Debtors nor reflected the same in the Day Book. 27. At Dhone branch, you were availing overdrafts against Sulabh Deposits bearing Nos.91/9, 91/13, 92/10, 95/13, 95/25, 95/62 and 95/84 in which you have posted the credit entries in earlier dates and debit entries in later dates than of actual dates, to get interest benefit, thereby causing a loss of revenue for Rs.3,618/- to the bank, details are as follows: S.No. A/c.No. Date of entry in the ledger Actual date of cr/dr Amount Rs. Revenue Leakage 1. 92/10 05.12.92 10.12.92 4500-00 2. 92/10 28.11.92 28.10.92 5000- 00(dr) 3. 92/10 30.12.92 02.01.93 4646-00 4. 92/10 28.01.93 08.03.93 9500-00 5. 92/10 18.04.93 08.05.93 4400-00 235-00 6. 95/13 30.06.95 21.09.95 17800-00 7. 95/13 28.09.95 06.12.95 20208-00 917-00 8. 95/25 21.09.95 21.09.95 10000-00 9. 95/25 25.09.95 06.12.95 31263-00 830-00 10. 95/62 09.01.96 21.02.96 47400-00 1610-00 11. 95/84 25.05.96 04.06.96 6120-00 26-00 Total : 3618-00 You have prepared and drawn a sum of Rs.1000/- in excess of the amount reflected in the ledger, while Sulabh deposits No.95/13 & 95/25 are prematurely closed by you. 28. At Dhone branch you have received excess interest of Rs.3,389/- while closing your Sulabh deposit accounts as follows: A/c.No. Sulabh Deposit Amt. with int. as per ledger Voucher prepared for Actual amount payable Rs. Revenue Leakage Rs. 95/13 32,106-00 33,106-00 31,315-00 1791-00 95/25 36,863-00 37,863-00 36,265-00 1598-00 Total : 3389-00 29. At Dhone branch you availed Deposit Loans /& in which you have posted the credit entries in earlier dates than of actual dates, to get interest benefit, thereby causing a loss of revenue for Rs.560/- to the bank, details are as follows :- Sl- No. A/c.No. Date of entry in the ledger Actual date of credit Amount Rs. Revenue Leakage Rs. 1. 92/1 29.02.92 03.03.92 10,183-00 6-00 2. 92/664 06.01.93 16.02.93 8,080-00 121-00 3. 93/527 31.03.94 09.06.94 8,440-00 238-00 4. 93/569 01.01.94 10.01.94 4,318-00 32-00 5. 94/211 19.07.94 19.07.94 10,200-00 13-00 6. 94/220 25.07.94 24.08,94 6,300-00 7. 26.07.94 02.09.94 4,300-00 8. 02.09.94 02.09.94 104-00 150-00 Total : 560-00 30. You have claimed excess interest of Rs.2,547/- on deposits under Stock Invest Accounts. Particulars of Revenue Leakage due to various irregularities are as follows :- A/c.no. Revenue Leakage – Rs. 94/95 1307-00 94/80 100-00 94/73 100-00 94/58 100-00 94/3 168-00 93/35 203-00 93/32 155-00 93/02 414-00 Total : 2547-00 31. At Chinna Malkapuram branch you have misappropriated an amount of Rs.6,000/- in Indian Stamps account, showing as purchases of stamps for Rs.1000/- and Rs.5000/- on 2.11.96 and 20.6.97 respectively. When verified with the records of Sub-Treasury Office, Dhone, it is found that no such purchases are made by you, and the actual stock of stamps at the branch differs from the value shown in the General Ledger. The aforesaid acts on your part attracts disciplinary action and liable to be punished under ABOE(D&A) Regulations.” From the elaborate details enumerated, of the several instances of misconduct allegedly committed by the petitioner, it is clear that there is no ambiguity whatsoever in the charge memo. Another contention urged by the petitioner is that there was no financial loss occasioned by his acts of misconduct. This is a contention that is stated to be rejected. The petitioner, as the Branch Manager of a Nationalized Bank, acts in a fiduciary capacity for the accounts of the customers with the bank. All the allegations put together in the charge memo allege abuse of the duties and responsibilities of the fiduciary. In fact, the penalty of compulsory retirement imposed on the petitioner instead of dismissal from service must be considered a lenient penalty. On the aforesaid analysis, this Court discerns no infirmity in the impugned order of penalty as confirmed in departmental, appellate and review fora, warranting interference under Article 226 of Constitution of India. There are no merits in the writ petition and it is accordingly dismissed. There are no orders as to costs. _______________________ JUSTICE GODA RAGHURAM Date: 27.01.2011 ndr/va THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GODA RAGHURAM WRIT PETITION No.526 of 2003 Date: 27.01.2011 ndr/va