Union Of India & Anr vs Ashok Kumar Aggarwal

H. So far as the criminal cases are concerned, the Special Judge granted pardon to co-accused Abhishek Verma. The said order was challenged by the respondent before the High Court and ultimately before this Court, but in vain.

I. The appellants had been reviewing the suspension order from time to time and thus, the respondent filed OA No.2842 of 2010 before the Tribunal for quashing of the suspension order and the same was disposed of by the Tribunal vide order dated 16.12.2011 directing the appellants to convene a meeting of the Special Review Committee (SRC) within a stipulated period to consider revocation or continuation of suspension of the respondent after taking into consideration various factors mentioned in the said order.

J. Pursuant to the said order of the Tribunal dated 16.12.2011, the SRC was constituted. The competent authority considered the recommendations of the SRC in this regard and passed an order dated 12.1.2012 to the effect that the suspension of the respondent would continue. The views of the CBI were made available subsequent to order dated 12.1.2012 and thus, the SRC again met and recommended the continuance of suspension of the respondent and on the basis of which the Competent Authority, vide order dated 3.2.2012, decided to continue the suspension of the respondent.

K. The respondent challenged the said orders dated 12.1.2012 and 3.2.2012 by filing OA No.495 of 2012 before the Tribunal and the Tribunal allowed the said OA vide order dated 1.6.2012 holding that the earlier directions given by the Tribunal on 16.12.2011 had not been complied with while passing the impugned orders dated 12.1.2012 and 3.2.2012 and thus, the continuation of suspension was not tenable. The said orders were accordingly quashed by the Tribunal. L. Aggrieved by the order dated 1.6.2012 passed by the Tribunal, the appellants preferred Writ Petition No.5247 of 2012 before the High Court of Delhi which was dismissed vide judgment and order impugned dated 17.9.2012.

4. Shri Dhruv Mehta, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent has opposed the appeal contending that the respondent had served the department for a period of 14 years and has faced the suspension for the same duration i.e. 14 years, and after nine year, the respondent would attain the age of superannuation. The appellants have obtained the interim order from this court restraining the trial court to proceed in a criminal case though it is not permissible in law to stay the trial as provided in Section 19(3) of the Act 1988. The said interim order had been obtained by the appellants by suppressing the material facts. The Tribunal vide order dated 16.12.2011 had issued certain directions and in spite of the fact that the said order had attained finality as the appellants had chosen not to challenge the same before a higher forum, the appellants were bound to ensure the compliance of the same and the Tribunal and the High Court had rightly held that the said order had not been complied with and the suspension orders dated 12.1.2012 and 3.2.2012 suffered from non-application of mind. More so, the Tribunal having quashed the suspension orders, renewing the suspension order would tantamount to sitting in appeal against the order of the Tribunal. The conduct of the appellants had been contemptuous and the same disentitled them for any relief from this Court. In view of the above, no interference is called for and the appeal is liable to be dismissed.

Before we proceed further, we would like to clarify that the Tribunal did not direct the competent authority not to renew the order of suspension or to decide the case in a particular way. Rather simple directions were issued to take the aforesaid factors into consideration before the order is passed.

19. Subsequent thereto, the SRC considered the case and the competent authority passed the order of continuation of suspension order on 12.1.2012. The said order made it clear that it would not be feasible for the competent authority to pass a reasoned and speaking order as required in terms of the Office Memorandum dated 7.1.2004 for the reason that CBI reports had not been received.

21. Both these orders were challenged by the respondent before the Tribunal by filing OA No. 495 of 2012 and in view of the fact that the directions given earlier on 16.12.2011 had not been complied with, in letter and spirit, the Tribunal allowed the OA by a detailed judgment running into 72 pages. Though the Tribunal took note of the fact that the charges against the respondent were grave, it held that continuance of the respondent’s suspension was not tenable. Hence, the said orders were quashed and set aside with the direction to the appellants to revoke his suspension and to reinstate him in service with all consequential benefits. However, liberty was given to the appellants that if at any point of time and in future, the criminal trial proceedings commenced, the appellants could consider the possibility of keeping the officer under suspension at that point of time if the facts and circumstances so warranted.

28. In view of the above, the aforesaid order dated 31.7.2012 in our humble opinion is nothing but a nullity being in contravention of the final order of the Tribunal which had attained finality. More so, the issue could not have been re-agitated by virtue of the application of the doctrine of res judicata.

In view thereof, we do not find any force in this appeal. The appeal lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed. There will be no order as to costs.