LPA No. 190 of 1997 1 In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh. LPA No. 190 of 1997 (O&M) Date of Decision: 05.02.2010 Hari Paul Sehgal ....Appellant. Versus State of Punjab and another ....Respondents. Coram:- Hon'ble Mr. Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel Hon'ble Mr. Justice Alok Singh Present: Mr. Ashok Kumar Sharma Nabhewale, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. Jaswinder Singh, DAG, Punjab for the State. ... Alok Singh, J. By way of present appeal, the writ petitioner - appellant has assailed the order dated 22.11.1996 thereby the learned Single Judge has dismissed the writ petition challenging order of discharge from service. Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner was appointed as Building Inspector on adhoc basis by the Director, Housing and Urban Development Department, Punjab. He joined his duties on 14.9.1983. He was granted extension from time to time on three months basis. He had served the department for one year and ten months without any break. However, he was discharged from service on 24.7.1985. No reasons, whatsoever, were assigned in the order dated 24.7.1985. However, the petitioner learnt that his services were terminated on the basis of a LPA No. 190 of 1997 2 corruption case registered against him vide FIR No.524 dated 18.7.1985, wherein he was acquitted in March, 1987 by the Special Judge, Amritsar. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. Learned counsel for the appellant vehemently argued that since order dated 24.7.1985, discharging the appellant from service is based on FIR No.524 dated 18.7.1985, which resulted in the acquittal, and hence, order impugned in the writ petition dated 24.7.1985 is liable to be quashed and the appellant is liable to be reinstated. Learned counsel for the appellant placed reliance on the judgement of the Supreme Court in Jaswantsingh Partapsingh Jadeja Vs. Rajkot Municipal Corporation & another, 2007 AIR SCW 6764, wherein in para 10, the Apex Court observed as under:- “10. We may apply the said tests in the instant case. In the instant case, the language used in the impugned order is ex facie stigmatic. It referred to the earlier orders containing allegations of misconduct on the part of the appellant and the fact that he had been found guilty thereof. Appellant was said to have been absented from duties. He had been found guilty of negligence, carelessness and showing absolute disregard towards his duties. A disciplinary proceeding was initiated therefor. His explanation to the show cause notice was rejected. He was, therefore, found guilty of the charges leveled against him. Only thereafter, he was discharged from service by reason of the impugned order dated 29.4.2003.” LPA No. 190 of 1997 3 We have given our serious thought on the point. Annexure P-4 order impugned in the writ petition dated 24.7.1985 reads as under:- “Services of Shri Hari Pal who is working as Junior Engineer on adhoc basis are no longer required by this Department. Therefore, he is served with a notice of 24 hours and after the expiry of this notice he stands terminated from government service.” No reason has been assigned in the order dated 24.7.1985 while terminating the services of the appellant. Hence, facts of the present case are different from the case of Jaswantsingh Partapsingh Jadeja's case (supra), which was before the Apex Court. Hence, the judgement relied upon by the learned counsel for the appellant has no application on the present matter. Learned counsel for the parties fairly admitted that the word “terminated ” used in the impugned order Annexure P-4 is wrongly written. In fact, it is an order of discharge. 9. We find that the order impugned (Annexure P-4) was passed on 24.7.1985, while writ petition was filed in 1997 i.e. after about twelve years. Laches have not been properly explained. 10. In view of above, we do not find any ground to interfere with the view taken by learned Single Judge and the appeal deserves to be dismissed. The same is, accordingly, dismissed. ( Alok Singh ) Judge ( Adarsh Kumar Goel ) Judge 05.02.2010 sk.