- (1.) RAKESH Tiwari, J. Heard learned Counsel for the parties and perused the record.
(2.) BY means of this writ petition the petitioner has challenged the impugned order/resolution dated 18- 10-2006 passed by the Member Secretary, District Administrative Committee-cum-Secretary/general Manager, District Sahkari Bank, Budaun whereby the charge of Sri Ram Pal Singh, Secretary of the respondent-Society by virtue of his superannuation, has been given to Sri Hukum Singh, respondent No. 5. The petitioner claims that the charge of the retiring Secretary ought to have been handed over to him as he was the senior-most clerk in the Society. It appears that initially a resolution dated 3-10-2006 was passed to the effect that the charge of Sri Ram Pal Singh, Secretary of the Society be given to the petitioner. Accordingly the charge had been given to him on 11-10-2006, however, the earlier resolution dated 3-10-2006 was modified by the impugned order/resolution dated 18-10-2006 under which the charge of Secretary was decided to be given to respondent No. 5. According to the learned Counsel for the petitioner the condition of handing over charge of Secretary of the Society is that it should be handed over to the senior-most clerk and the petitioner being the senior-most clerk was entitled to get the charge of Secretary which has illegally and arbitrarily been handed over to respondent No. 5.
(3.) IT is true that normal principle is that the charge should be handed over to the senior-most person which was followed by the Board of Directors initially by passing a resolution to hand over charge to the petitioner, but when it came to the notice of the Board of Directors that there was a charge of embezzlement against the petitioner the resolution was modified and in pursuance of these facts and the charge of Secretary was given to Sri Hukum Singh, respondent No. 5. In my opinion the charge should be given to an honest person and not necessarily to a senior person if he is not honest. If the integrity of the petitioner is doubtful as he is alleged to have committed embezzlement the Board of Directors was right to consider the resolution to hand-over charge of Secretary to a junior person until the petitioner is cleared of charge of embezzlement in domestic enquiry or by a Court of law.;