State Of U.P.& Anr vs Man Mohan Nath Sinha & Anr

3. Man Mohan Nath Sinha , respondent No.1, was posted as Private Secretary (Class II) to the then State Minister, Minor Irrigation, Shri Ram Asrey Paswan, where he worked from November 18, 1997 to April 24, 1999. He is said to have misappropriated the government money while he was attached as Private Secretary to the then State Minister. The Vigilance Department after holding an enquiry against respondent No.1 sought his prosecution under Sections 408, 409, 420, IPC, as well as under Sections 13 (1) (b) read with 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. On October 9, 2001, the respondent No.1 was placed under suspension. The disciplinary proceedings were also initiated against him and he was served with the chargesheet on October 19, 2001. The principal charge against the respondent No.1 was that while being attached as a Private Secretary to the State Minister, Minor Irrigation, he took undue advantage of the ignorance and disability of the Minister and acted in violation of his duties as a Private Secretary by drawing a total of Rs. 37,00,304/- from the State Minister's Saving Bank Account No. 8002, State Bank of India, Secretariat Branch, Lucknow, and out of the amount so withdrawn, an amount of Rs.21,32,011/- was deposited by the delinquent in his own Saving Bank Account No. 8861 in the same bank. It was alleged in the charge that the State 2 Minster received an amount of Rs.12,00,000/- on different dates; payment for petrol etc. to the tune of Rs.3,68,293/- was also made by the delinquent and the remaining amount was misappropriated. The second charge against the respondent No.1 was that being a senior public servant, he obtained undue advantage and by adopting criminal means and acting in contravention of the duties of the Private Secretary, he breached the Code of Conduct prescribed for Private Secretaries in Para 266 of the Sachivalaya Niyam Sangrah, Uttar Pradesh Shashan.

4. The delinquent denied the charges and put forth his version in his reply. The Inquiry Officer after recording the evidence, submitted his report on December 12, 2002. The Inquiry Officer recorded a finding that in his capacity as Private Secretary to the then State Minister, the delinquent took undue advantage, acted contrary to the duties and responsibilities of Private Secretary and he perpetrated fraud and deceit upon the State Minister for unlawful gains to himself. The Inquiry Officer found that the delinquent had misappropriated a portion of the amount so withdrawn from the Saving Bank account of the State Minister.

5. A copy of the enquiry report was furnished to the delinquent and after giving him a show cause notice, the Competent 3 Authority passed an order on November 24, 2003, dismissing the respondent No.1 from service.

6. The respondent No.1 challenged the order of dismissal before the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow.

13. Resultantly, the appeal is allowed and the order dated May 23, 2008, passed by the High Court is set aside. Writ Petition is restored to the file of the High Court for fresh hearing and disposal. Needless to say that the respective arguments of the parties are kept open to be agitated before the High Court which obviously will be considered on their own merit. We request the High Court to dispose of the matter as expeditiously as may be possible and preferably within four months. No order as to costs.

.............................J 10 (Tarun Chatterjee) .............................J (R.M. Lodha) New Delhi, August 17 , 2009 11