IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU W.P.No.13221 OF 2011 Date:29.04.2011 Between:- S.V.B.Reddy .. Petitioner And The A.P.S.R.T.C., rep.by its Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Hyderabad and others. .. Respondents ORDER:- This Writ Petition is filed to issue a writ of mandamus to declare the proceedings No.02/95(157-A)2010-Kdkr, dated 20.04.2011, issued by respondent No.3 suspending the petitioner pending enquiry as arbitrary and illegal, and consequently, set aside the same. 2. The case of the petitioner is that in view of nationalization of routes in the year 1987, he was displaced from service. Subsequently, he was appointed as Conductor in A.P.S.R.T.C. on 01.08.1989 under displaced employee quota. On 28.10.2010, TTI’s of Kavali conducted a check of tray No.112 belonging to one Sri N.Parandamaiah working as Conductor in the reservation counter of Singarayakonda bus station. During the said check, it was found that as per the sale of tickets, instead of Rs.13,310/-, only Rs.2,480/- were available with the said Sri N.Parandamaiah and further found that three tickets blocks of the value of Rs.25,000/- were missing in the hand tray of said Sri N.Parandamaiah. Therefore, a case was booked against him. Further, it was found that the said N.Parandamaiah has sold the tickets worth Rs.25,000/- to various passengers and the said amount was not deposited. Thereafter, a statement was submitted by the Deputy Superintendent (f), Kandukur giving the details of amounts deposited on each day of October, 2010. In the said statement, it was found that there were no deposits on 04.10.2010, 13.10.2010 to 19.10.2010, 23.10.2010, 25.10.2010, 28.10.2010 and 31.10.2010 for Singarayakonda reservation counter. On verification of the muster, it was found that he was on duty as Conductor on the above said dates and further, he worked on the (STAR) taken on behalf of N.Parandamaiah. An enquiry was conducted by the Assistant Manager (T), Chirala and recorded his statements and also others including N.Parandamaiah. Basing on those statements, a preliminary enquiry report, dated 27.12.2010, was submitted to respondent No.2. Basing on the said report, respondent No.2 directed respondent No.3 to initiate stern disciplinary action against him with respect to not recording the details of sales of tickets in the reservation charts book during the period from 08.02.2010 to 17.02.2010 and for remitting the sale proceeds after one year. This new allegation as to irregularities in February, 2010 appears to have been initiated basing on the statement made by said N.Parandamaiah. On 21.04.2011, he received a charge sheet, dated 20.04.2011, framing three charges against him, which are extracted below, and asked to submit his explanation within seven days. He also received the proceedings of respondent No.3 suspending him pending enquiry. Charge No.1: For having violated the rule of remit the tickets sale amount in depot earning section properly every day after performing the duties at S.Konda reservation point on 04.10.2010, from 13.10.2010 to 19.10.2010 and on 25.10.2010 and also you have performed duties at S.Konda Point without collecting the Tray No.112 and without attending the Depot, which established your sheer negligence, fraudulent motive and temporary misappropriation of tickets sale amount, which constitutes serious misconduct under Reg.28(ix-a) and (xxxi) of APSRTC Employees’ (conduct) Reg.1963. Charge No.2: For having temporarily misappropriated the ticket sale amount while working at S.Konda reservation point with tray No.124 from 08.02.2010 to 17.02.2010 and for having resorted the sale proceeds of Rs.5300.00 after one year, which constitutes serious mis-conduct under Reg.28(x) of APSRTC Employees’ (conduct) Reg.1963. Charge No.3: “For having violated the “Rules and Regulations of APSRTC” and remitted less amount as against actual tickets sale amount while you were working at S.Konda reservation point with Tray No.124 from 08.02.2010 to 17.02.2010, which clearly shows your moto to utilize the tickets sale amount for your personal needs, which is a serious mis-conduct under Reg.28 (xxxi) of APSRTC Employees’ (conduct) Reg.1963.” After receiving the said proceedings, he addressed a letter, dated 22.04.2011, seeking certain documents and time for submitting his explanation. Respondent No.2, vide letter, dated 25.04.2011, supplied only three documents out of five documents. The alleged irregularities alleged against him relate to February, 2010 and October, 2010. Further, it is based on the statements given in the preliminary enquiry conducted pursuant to a check conducted on N.Parandamaiah and hence, the charges levelled against him are arbitrary and illegal. Hence, he filed the present writ petition. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that unless there is a grave charge, the petitioner cannot be suspended and that it is not a case of misappropriation of amount and the incident alleged to have taken place prior to one year and the object of suspending the employee pending enquiry is that he may not tamper with the evidence. Since all the records are available with the department, the question of tampering the evidence does not arise and therefore, he prays to set aside the impugned order. 4. Ordinarily, this Court is not interfering with the impugned order because it is for the disciplinary authority or the appointing authority to take appropriate decision in placing an employee under suspension. Though suspension is not an automatic or routine manner, there must be a prima facie evidence on record connecting the employee with misconduct in question. The charge levelled against the petitioner is that on 04.10.2010, 13.10.2010 to 19.10.2010 and 25.10.2010, he performed the duties without collecting tray No.112 and without attending the depot and committed misappropriation of the sale of ticket amount. The second charge is that he misappropriated an amount of Rs.5,300/- from 08.02.2010 to 17.02.2010, which constitutes a serious misconduct. The third charge is that he remitted less amount as against the actual ticket sale amount while he was working at S.Konda reservation point with Tray No.124 from 08.02.2010 to 17.02.2010 which shows that he utilized the sale amount for his personal needs. Therefore, at this stage, correctness or otherwise of the allegations and charges cannot be decided or adjudicated. It is the duty of the Enquiry Officer to conduct the enquiry in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Corporation. Prima facie, there is a material on record which would clearly go to show that he temporarily misappropriated an amount of Rs.5,300/- and he remitted less amount as against the actual ticket sale amount, which is a serious misconduct. Therefore, there are no grounds to interfere with the impugned order. 5. The Writ Petition is accordingly dismissed. Any observation made in this order is only for the purpose of disposal of this petition. Uninfluenced by the observation made by this Court, departmental enquiry shall be conducted. There shall be no order as to costs. _​_____________________ JUSTICE K.C.BHANU 29th April, 2011 AMD THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU W.P.No.13221 OF 2011 Date:29-04-2011 AMD