IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
Dated: 29/11/2005
Coram
The Hon'ble Mr.Justice P.SATHASIVAM
and
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.K.KRISHNAN
W.P.No.10779 of 2003
and W.P.Nos., 32430 and 37796 of 2004
and WPMP.No.45341 of 2004
1. The Government of Tamil Nadu rep.
by its Secretary
Agriculture Department,
Fort St.George, Chennai 600 009.
2. The Chief Engineer (Agrl. Engg.)
487, Anna Salai, Nandanam,
Chennai 600 035.
3. The District Collector
Erode District,
Erode. .. Petitioners in WP.10779/03
The District Registrar
Namakkal. .. Petitioner in WP.32430/04
The Secretary to Government
Commercial Taxes Department,
Fort St. George,
Chennai 600 009. .. Petitioner in WP.37796/04
-Vs-
K.S.Ravichandran .. R.1 in W.P.No.10779/03
S.Jayakumar .. R.1 in W.P.No.32430/04
M.Nagarajan .. R.1 in W.P.No.37796/04
2. The Registrar
Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal,
Chennai 600 104. .. R.2 in all the above Wps.
PRAYER : Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India
praying for issue of a Writ of Certiorari calling for the records pertaining
to the orders dated 13.12.2002, 19.05.2004 and 04.02.2004 made in
O.A.No.6393/2002, 2164/2004 and 312/2004 respectively on the file of the Tamil
Nadu Administrative Tribunal, Chennai, the second respondent herein and to
quash the same.
For Petitioners : Mr.E.Sampath Kumar,
Govt. Advocate
For Respondents : Mr.Ravi for R.1.
:C O M M O N O R D E R
(ORDER OF THE COURT WAS MADE BY P.SATHASIVAM, J.)
Aggrieved by the identical orders of the Tamil Nadu Administrative
Tribunal, Chennai, directing the Department to reinstate the applicant therein
without prejudice to the Department for continuing the criminal proceedings,
respective Department and their Officers filed the above writ petitions.
2. Heard the learned Government Advocate and the learned counsel for
the contesting first respondent.
3. In the light of the order to be passed here under, there is no
need to refer to the factual matrix as stated by the petitioners and the
contesting first respondent. It is seen from the impugned orders that the
Tribunal, after finding that though charge sheets have been laid and cases
have been taken on file by the respective Court, in the absence of effective
trial and also taking note of the fact that the applicants were under
suspension from 1999, directed the Department to reinstate them without
further delay.
4. The learned Government Advocate informed this Court that in W.P.
No.10779/2003 and 32430/2004, the criminal proceedings initiated against the
delinquent / first respondent herein are under progress and material witnesses
have already been examined as well as the trial is likely to be over. By
referring those details, he pleaded further time of six months for completion
of the criminal trial and he also contended that taking note of the
allegations made against the delinquent officers and the charges relates to
corruption, the Tribunal is not justified in revoking the order of suspension
and issuing direction for reinstatement. In so far as W.P.No.37796/04, the
learned Government Advocate has brought to our notice the decision of the
Government in G.O.(D)No.211 Commercial Taxes (E1) Department dated 15.06.2005,
wherein, the Government while reviewing the suspension, have decided to
continue the same in the public interest until the criminal case pending
against him before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Trichirapalli, is finally
disposed of.
5. In all these cases, learned counsel appearing for the contesting
first respondent filed an affidavit/additional typeset of papers informing
this Court that except examining few witnesses, the trial in the criminal
cases has not reached its finality and according to him, it is likely to be
prolonged. The learned counsel also submitted that in the case of
M.Nagarajan, first respondent in W.P.No.37796/04, his co-accused namely
G.Selvaraju, was reinstated pursuant to the orders of the Government. By
stating his case, learned counsel contended that the Tribunal is fully
justified in issuing direction in the case of M.Nagarajan.
6. We have carefully considered the relevant materials and rival
contentions of the learned Government Advocate as well as the contesting first
respondent.
7. It cannot be said that the Department has not taken any steps. On
the other hand, the learned Government Advocate informed this Court that
atleast in two cases, namely, in the case of K.S.Ravichandran and S.Jayakumar,
the criminal trial is in progress and likely to reach its conclusion shortly.
It is also seen from the material furnished by the learned Government Advocate
that even in the case of M. Nagarajan, in view of the order of the Government
extending the suspension, there is every possibility in completion of the
criminal proceedings lodged against him. All these statements cannot be
ignored lightly, particularly, the charges leveled against the delinquents are
serious in nature. In the light of the progress in the criminal cases, we
dispose of all the three writ petitions by passing the following order.
8. The Department is granted three months time from today for
completion of the criminal proceedings. It is made clear that for any reason,
the criminal case pending against the first respondent in each case could not
be completed within the time, the Department is directed to implement the
order of the Tribunal passed in their favour immediately. It is further made
clear that since this Court has fixed an outer limit, the first respondent
herein in all the above writ petitions should not take advantage of the same
and delay the criminal proceedings.
With the above observations / directions, the writ petitions are
disposed of. No costs. Consequently connected WPMP., is closed.
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