HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU WRIT PETITION No.1330 of 2009 ORDER: It appears while the petitioner was working as a conductor, due to absenteeism from 28/05/1994 to 28/06/1994, he was imposed with a punishment of stoppage of one annual grade increment with cumulative effect. According to the petitioner, the said order was passed without conducting any detailed enquiry as required under the regulations of the Corporation. The punishment of stoppage of increment with cumulative effect is a major punishment and unless and until a detailed enquiry was conducted, such a punishment could not have been imposed by the respondents. Law in this regard is well settled. A major penalty of stoppage of increment with cumulative effect cannot be imposed on a delinquent employee without conducting a detailed enquiry as required under the regulations governing the field. In this case, a bare look at the impugned order dated 12/08/1994 would show that no such enquiry was conducted by the respondents and only on the basis of explanation submitted by the petitioner on 06/08/1994 to the charge sheet dated 07/07/1994, the impugned order was passed. The impugned order is ex-facie illegal. However, in view of the fact that setting aside the impugned order and remanding the matter may not serve any purpose, I deem it appropriate that since the absenteeism is a matter of record, the petitioner cannot escape the punishment of stoppage of one increment without cumulative effect. Therefore, the order passed on 12/08/1994 is modified to that of imposing the punishment of stoppage of one increment without cumulative effect. However, it is further made clear that the petitioner is not entitled for any monetary benefits till 01/05/2010 and he is only entitled for notional benefits till such time. The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. No order as to costs. __________________ JUSTICE C.V. RAMULU 30th April, 2010 SKM