MOHAN M.SHANTANAGOUDAR, J. - (1.) The judgment dated 12.09.2008 in LPA No. 553 of 2008 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi is called in question in this appeal.
(2.) Brief facts leading to this appeal are: The respondent ­ Lalit Popli, who is now dead and represented through his legal heirs, was employed as a clerk in appellant's bank and was dismissed from service on 30.06.1995, consequent upon a departmental enquiry in which he was found guilty of fraudulently withdrawing an amount of Rs.1,07,000/- from the saving account of a customer. The Manager of the Bank (Shri Meenakshisundaram), an officer (Shri S.S. Bhutani) as well as Special Assistant (Shri Rakesh Tyagi) was also indicted and they were also found guilty of negligence in relation to the very same incident. The disciplinary authority by its order dated 18th September, 1994 awarded the punishment of 'censure' to the Manager of the Bank (Shri Meenakshisundaram) and ordered recovery of Rs.77,000/- from him. Likewise, the disciplinary authority by its order dated 23rd January, 1995 awarded the punishment of 'censure' to Shri S.S. Bhutani and Shri Rakesh Tyagi and ordered recovery of Rs.15,000/- from each of them. The appeals filed by the said three employees challenging the orders of the disciplinary authority were also dismissed and they did not carry the matter any further and they deposited the amount, as ordered against them. Insofar as the respondent ­ Lalit Popli is concerned, the disciplinary authority by its order dated 30 th June, 1995 awarded the punishment of 'dismissal from service'.
(3.) The respondent preferred Writ Petition (Civil) No. 2269 of 1995 challenging the order of dismissal, which came to be allowed by learned Single Judge of the High Court vide his order dated 7 th August, 1998 and the order of dismissal was set aside. The appellant ­ Bank filed an appeal against the order of the learned Single Judge of the High Court being LPA No. 465 of 1998. During the pendency of the Letters Patent Appeal before the High Court, it was decided by the bank to withhold an amount of Rs.74,180.09, payable to the respondent, which included the gratuity and provident fund(employer's contribution) and to keep the same in a fixed deposit with a view to adjust the said amount towards any loss caused to the bank by the respondent. LPA No. 465 of 1998, after hearing, was allowed by the Division Bench of the High Court and the order of dismissal was restored. Further appeal by the respondent was dismissed by this Court by a detailed judgment on 18.02.2003 (reported as Lalit Popli vs. Canara Bank, (2003) 3 SCC 583). After the dismissal of the matter by this Court, the respondent made number of representations to the bank to release the amount of gratuity and the employer's contribution towards provident fund, which was held up by the bank, by pointing out that the bank had already recovered the entire amount of loss caused to the bank from the other three employees as mentioned supra, and therefore it was not justified on the part of the bank in withholding the terminal benefits payable to the respondent. The bank replied to the respondent that since the matter was sub judice before the Court, the bank was unable to accede to his request. After the dismissal of the matter by this Court, the bank vide its order dated 24.06.2003 decided to recover the amount of Rs.1,07,000/- from the respondent and to refund the amount already recovered from the other three employees, to them. By then, the amount of Rs.74,180.09, which was kept in a fixed deposit, had attained the maturity value of Rs.1,08,923/-. The bank ordered that out of Rs.1,08,923/-, an amount of Rs.1,07,000/- be adjusted against the loss caused to the bank by the respondent, who had withdrawn the said amount by forging the signature of the account holder. Though, the bank had earlier decided to recover the said amount from the respondent, the bank could not recover from the respondent since the matter as against the respondent was sub judice before the Courts of law at various stages. Only after the litigation ended in finality up to this Court, the bank passed an order to recover Rs.1,07,000/- from the respondent and therefore the bank adjusted Rs.1,07,000/- out of Rs.1,08,923/- (the maturity value of Rs.74,180.09), towards loss caused to the bank by the respondent and remaining amount of Rs.1,923/- was released in favour of the respondent. ;