TAPEN SEN, J. - (1.) HEARD the parties.
(2.) THE Petitioner, Dhurub Deo Singh prays for quashing the departmental proceeding initiated on the basis of a charge -sheet dated 26/28.11.1995 (Annexure -2). He also prays for quashing the said chargesheet as also the order of suspension passed on 28.11.1995 by Annexure -3 retrospectively putting the Petitioner under suspension w.e.f. 27.11.1995, i.e., from a date four days earlier to the date of his superannuation on the ground of a contemplated departmental proceeding. The Petitioner further prays that he be paid all his legal dues including Post Retiral Benefits to which he would have been entitled in normal course had he not been issued with the chargesheet and put under suspension in the manner stated above. The Petitioner also makes a prayer for payment of salary for the period 01.02.1993 to 04.01.1994, which, according to the petitioner, has been illegally withheld by the Respondents. The Petitioner has also made a prayer that he should not be forced to vacate the quarter until all his dues are settled and paid. The Railway Protection Force, Act, 1957 is an Act to provide for the constitution and regulation of an armed force of the Union. Under Section 10 of the said Act, officers and members of the Railway Protection Force are deemed to be Railway Servants within the meaning of Indian Railway Act, 1890. Section 2 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 provides that the provisions of that Act shall not apply to any member of the naval, military or AIR Forces or of any other Armed Forces of the Union. Thus the Petitioner being a member of the Armed Force of the Union, the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 will not apply and High Court can exercise its writ jurisdiction. In that view of the matter, the preliminary objection to the effect that the Writ Application is not maintainable is rejected and reference in this context is made to the case of Chandra Kamal Bhagawati v. Union of India and Ors., reported in 1998 Lab IC 1076.
(3.) THE short facts which are necessary to be taken note of are that some time in the year 1959, the Petitioner was appointed as a Rakshak in the pay scale of Rs. 70 -1 -80 -E.V. -1 -85. The Petitioner has stated at paragraph 4 that immediately after appointment, he filled up an Attestation Form (Annexure -1). In the said Attestation Form, the Petitioner was required to give certain details and the last column thereof is in the nature of a questionnaire which reads as "are you member of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe? Answer Yes or No and if the answer is Yes, state the name thereof.";