Veerender Singh Siradhana, J. - (1.) THE petitioner was served with a charge -sheet on 25th September, 1991, under Rule 16 of the Rajasthan Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1958 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Rules of 1958', for short) and consequently was inflicted with the penalty of stoppage of three grade increments with cumulative effect by the Disciplinary Authority vide order dated 31st August, 1996. Aggrieved of the penalty imposed, the petitioner has instituted the present writ proceedings, with a prayer to quash and set aside the order of penalty and to exonerate the petitioner of the charges levelled against him.
(2.) SHORN off unnecessary details, the indispensable material facts, necessary for appreciation of the controversy raised, needs to be first noticed. The petitioner was initially appointed as 'Amin' in the Settlement Department on 17th August, 1961 and was accorded promotion to the post of Inspector Settlement in the month of September, 1989, and he has maintained a clean and unblemished record. The disciplinary action initiated relates to three Mutation entries which pertains to Village Pinan Tehsil Rajgarh, District Alwar. The entries were made in the revenue records after sanction/order of the Assistant Settlement Officer viz. Shri Chhagan Lal Verma. Though a preliminary enquiry was conducted against one Shri Ramesh Chandra Sharma 'Amin' along with the petitioner but the proceedings were dropped against him. The petitioner was not accorded any opportunity of hearing in the preliminary enquiry. Learned counsel for the petitioner, reiterating the pleaded facts and grounds of the writ application, has assailed the impugned order of penalty mainly on three counts (a) for the findings of the enquiry officer and the disciplinary authority being perverse to the facts and materials on record and also against the provisions of law, (b) for no opportunity of hearing was accorded to the petitioner and the required documents were not furnished, and (c) for the penalty imposed is disproportionate to the nature of alleged misconduct.
(3.) THE findings arrived at by the Enquiry Officer, for the petitioner accepted the applications of the applicants for Mutation without stamp fee of Rs. 1/ - on the application and for filling up Form P -21 "Khasra Parishodhan Patra", without obtaining prior permission of the concerned Authority i.e. the Assistant Settlement Officer; have been assailed on the ground that as per Settlement Rules Manual and the Notification dated 28th May, 1965, no stamp fee is required on the application for Mutation or for change the Mutation, applied for by the applicant -agriculturists to the 'Amin' or to the Assistant Settlement Officer, during the Settlement operations. The finding on the allegation for not first obtaining order of the competent authority, on the applications, submitted by the agriculturists/applicants, has been assailed referring to the provisions of Rule 119 to 148 of the Rajasthan Land Records Rules, 1957, wherein the concerned Patwari/Amin has to make an entry in the required form by 'Pencil', and forward the same to the Land Record Inspector/Settlement Inspector, who after its verification is to sanction/pass an order, for the change in the concerned revenue record with reference to Mutation by 'Pucca Syahi'. Moreover, in the process involved, the petitioner, was at the lowest end in the cadre of ministerial service, and the entries made, were to be verified by the Inspector (Settlement) before they were forwarded to the Assistant Settlement Officer, who was to pass the required order for the entries in the Mutation register.;