IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.13343 of 2010 Date of Decision: July 30, 2010 Karnail Singh .....PETITIONER(S) VERSUS State of Punjab & Others .....RESPONDENT(S) . . . CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAI LAMBA PRESENT: - Mr. Padamkant Dwivedi, Advocate, for the petitioner. . . . AJAI LAMBA, J (Oral) 1. This civil writ petition has been filed under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India, praying for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari, quashing Order dated 27.8.2003 (Annexure P-1) passed by respondent No.2 i.e. Director, State Transport Department, Punjab. Prayer further is to quash Order dated 9.3.2006 (Annexure P-2). 2. Learned counsel contends that statutory appeal dated 17.9.2008 has been filed vide Annexure P-3, however, no decision on the appeal has been taken. 3. Notice of motion. 4. On the asking of the Court, Mr. B.S. Chahal, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab, accepts notice on behalf of the respondents. CWP No.13343 of 2010 [2] Requisite number of copies of the writ petition have been handed over to learned counsel for the respondents in Court. 5. On request of learned counsel for the parties and in view of the limited prayer made in the petition, the matter is taken up at this stage itself for final adjudication in view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case. 6. Heard. 7. Vide Order dated 27.8.2003 (Annexure P-1), respondent No.2, after considering the enquiry report and other attending circumstances awarded a punishment of stoppage of one annual increment with cumulative effect. 8. Vide Order dated 9.3.2006 (Annexure P-2), decision has been taken not to give anything to the petitioner for the period when services of the petitioner were under suspension. 9. The petitioner, aggrieved by the orders passed, filed a statutory appeal. Copy of grounds of appeal has been placed on record as Annexure P-3. 10. It has been contended that no decision on the appeal filed by the petitioner has been taken. The petitioner is entitled to expeditious disposal of the statutory appeal as the impugned orders affect the civil rights of the petitioner. 11. I have considered the contentions. 12. Since the statutory appeal filed by the petitioner is pending adjudication, no ground for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari is made out. In that regard, therefore, no relief can be granted CWP No.13343 of 2010 [3] to the petitioner. However, considering the fact that petitioner has filed a statutory appeal against the impugned orders, the petition is allowed to a limited extent and Principal Secretary, Department of Transport, Government of Punjab, is directed to deal with the statutory appeal of the petitioner and pass orders as required by law, within a period of three months of receipt of a certified copy of the order. 13. It is made clear that the petitioner would be given opportunity of hearing before any final order is passed. The order needs to be a speaking and reasoned order which would be conveyed to the petitioner. (AJAI LAMBA) July 30, 2010 JUDGE avin 1. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 2. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?