RAMSWAROOP SHARMA T T E WESTERN RLY Vs. DIV COMM SUPDT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition by a servant of the railway administration, in fact the second petition in regard to the same set of events in circumstances to be set out presently. His prayer is that this Court should direct that the administration should not implement its order punishing him by loss of increments. The ground is that he has already been exonerated by an order of this Court in Misc. Petition No. 44 of 1960 of the very allegations which have since been made the subject-matter of a second charge-sheet. The questions for decision are, on the facts, whether the two charge-sheets, namely, the earlier one the departmental decision on which was before the High Court in Misc. Petition No. 14 of 1960 and the later one as the result of which he has again been now punished, relate to the same set of facts and the second does not include any act on the petitioner's part not included in the first. The second question one of law or general principle of fairplay is, whether in the event of the Fame set of allegations having been investigated on merits and the public servant having been exonerated by a competent authority or Court there can be a fresh charge-sheet on precisely the same allegations. Obviously this latter has to be answered on general principles of fairplav usually called natural justice, and not on any theory that Section 403, Criminal Procedure Code and Article 20 of the Constitution are applicable to departmental proceedings which certainly they are not.

(2.) THE first charge-sheet was to the following effect:

(3.) AFTER this fresh proceedings were started and the new charge-sheet runs;