- (1.) As a consequence to a disciplinary action, the petitioner (appellant herein) was subjected to a punishment in the following terms:- "Reduction to a lower stage in his time scale of pay by -01- stage for a period of -03- months without cumulative effect' And Further, the period of suspension of Mr. Chandra Shekhar Srivastava will be treated as period not spent on duty. Hence, no difference of salary will be payable to him except subsistence allowance, which he has already received."
(2.) Aggrieved by the same, he preferred a petition for writ with a ground, inter alia, that second part of punishment relating to period of suspension is bad being without jurisdiction. Learned Single Bench dismissed the petition for writ relying upon clause (2) of Regulation 48 of the Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank (Officers and Employees) Service Regulations, 2010 that reads as under:- "48. Treatment of suspension period and allied matters- (1) The Competent Authority may, while imposing penalty, direct whether the other or employee shall be paid the difference between the subsistence allowance and the emoluments which he would have received but for such suspension or the period he was under suspension and that, if the Competent Authority decides otherwise, no order shall be passed which shall have effect of compelling the officer or employee to refund such subsistence allowance. (2) The period during which an officer or employee is under suspension shall, if he is not removed or dismissed from the service, be treated as period spent on duty or otherwise as the Competent Authority may direct."
(3.) A challenge is given to the judgment impugned with submission that learned single Bench failed to appreciate and interpret provisions of Regulation 48 in correct perspective and that ultimately resulted into miscarriage of justice. It is submitted that clause (2) of Regulation 48 pertains to two different eventualities which are:- (i) When the employee is under suspension but is not subjected to the penalty of removal or dismissal from service, and (ii) When the petitioner or employee is under suspension and is subjected to a penalty otherwise to first eventuality, meaning thereby, he has been either removed or dismissed from service.;