Sanjib Banerjee, J. - (1.) The petitioner asserts that when an employee of a government or public body is simultaneously proceeded against in departmental and criminal actions on identical or similar charges, the employee's honourable acquittal in the criminal proceedings would, ipso facto, bring the departmental action to an end.
(2.) Only the rudimentary facts need to be noticed for the present purpose. By a memorandum of March 3, 2014, the petitioner, an assistant manager then posted at the New Jalpaiguri Branch of the Central Bank of India, was forwarded the articles of charge for having acted fraudulently and caused prejudice to the bank. Several counts of fraudulent transactions by debiting or crediting several bank accounts were listed. The memorandum indicated that the bank perceived that the petitioner indulged in the fraudulent transactions with an intention to defraud the bank, expose it to grave financial consequences and damage its reputation. The bank felt that the petitioner had failed to discharge his duties with the devotion or diligence or integrity or honesty befitting a bank officer. A statement of imputation of misconduct in support of the articles of charge was appended to the memorandum. On December 13, 2013 a written complaint was lodged with the appropriate police station in respect of some of the same perceived fraudulent transactions, alleging that the petitioner had committed offences under Ss. 409/420 of the Indian Penal Code.
(3.) The petitioner instituted WP No. 13315(W) of 2014 in this court on the ground that since the same acts or set of acts were the subject -matter of both the disciplinary proceedings and the then impeding criminal trial as the charge -sheet had already been submitted, the two sets of proceedings could not be continued in tandem. Such petition succeeded and, by an order of June 3, 2014, the criminal court was requested to ensure that the trial was completed within a year of the communication of the order. The disciplinary proceedings were directed to remain stayed till the conclusion of the criminal trial.;