- (1.) THIS application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner challenging the inaction on the part of the respondents in not withdrawing the order of suspension issued to him on November 16, 2009. The respondent no. 1 is Indian Statistical Institute and respondents nos. 2 and 3 are its Director and Chief Executive (Administrative and Finance) respectively.
(2.) THE petitioner is an employee of the respondent no. 1. THE case made out by him is that his wife Late Ruma Bhattacharjee was admitted to the hospital with burn injuries and died on October 17, 2009. On the basis of a written complaint by the father of the deceased wife, Airport Police Station case no. 199 of 2009 was started against the petitioner under Ss. 498 A/302/34 of the Indian Penal Code and 3 / 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. On October 27, the petitioner was arrested in connection with the above case. His prayer for bail was rejected. On November 16, 2009 the respondent no. 3 issued an Office Order placing the petitioner under suspension with effect from the date of his arrest which was to continue until further orders. The Order mentioned that the same was issued under Clause 9.2 (b) of the Standing Service Order of the respondent no. 1. This Office Order has been annexed to this writ petition as Annexure A-1. It appears from the petition that on December 8, 2009 the petitioner was released on bail. The learned Additional Sessions Judge, Barrackpore, while passing the said order had considered the statement made by the daughter of the deceased made under S. 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the statement made by the deceased to the doctor who did not implicate her husband for the alleged commission of offence and considering the period of detention the learned Judge enlarged the petitioner on bail. The petitioner thereafter through his learned Advocate made a prayer for lifting of the order of suspension to the respondent no. 3. Suspension, however, till now has not been lifted. Yet another factor about the Criminal Case against the petitioner is worth mentioning. The police had submitted the charge sheet against the petitioner under Ss. 498 A/ 306/ 34 of the Indian Penal Code and the case is pending before the appropriate court for trial.
(3.) THIS specific case of the petitioner is that he was placed under suspension as a result of initiation of a criminal case against him which has nothing to do with his service and he is entitled to have the order of suspension withdrawn after his release from custody on bail. Under the circumstances, the petitioner has inter alia prayed for a writ in the nature of Mandamus commanding in the respondents to withdraw the order of suspension and to allow him to join his duty with immediate effect. On behalf of the respondents the respondent no. 3 has affirmed an affidavit. The stand taken by the respondents is that the petitioner was detained in judicial custody and as such they had no alternative but to place him under suspension in terms of Clause 9.2 (b) of the Standing Service Order of the respondent no. 1. The respondents have also stated that it had come to their knowledge that after the completion of the investigation a charge sheet has been submitted and in that no allegation of murder or dowry death was brought home against him. They seemed to have expressed their helplessness in the matter of lifting the order of suspension as there is no specific provision in the Standing Service Order regarding the same during the pendency of a case against one of the employees and as a result they could not entertain the prayer of the petitioner for withdrawal of the order of suspension.;