VIGILANCE MANUAL VOLUME III - AP Online

DECISION - 391
773
continue till punishment and the appellant woke up from his slumber
after more than two years on his acquittal by the appellate court.
The proceedings which are initiated by the employer are aimed at to
ensure the proper conduct of the employee and are further aimed at
to maintain discipline and dignity while in service and further that
unscrupulous element may not be continued in service. The object
of the criminal trial is to punish the offender and the court dealing
with the trial has no jurisdiction to take any disciplinary action against
an unscrupulous employee since that domain exclusively vests in
the disciplinary authority. The proceedings by the department can
well proceed to find out the misconduct of the employee even if a
criminal case is pending on identical facts. The proceedings, thus,
taken by the disciplinary authority do not suffer from any illegality or
impropriety.
Coming to the fact as to in the given situation what would be
the effect of acquittal of the appellant on the disciplinary enquiry
conducted by the authorities culminating in his dismissal on the basis
of the material on record, the High Court observed that the appellant
has been found guilty by the District Superintendent of Police which
order was confirmed in appeal by the Deputy Inspector General of
Police, Udaipur. The appellant was also found guilty by the Magistrate
and was convicted. The acquittal later by the Additional Sessions
Judge in appeal was of no consequence on the proceedings which
had been concluded long before and the order having not been
challenged further had become final.
The High Court (Division Bench) expressed itself in
agreement with the Single Judge and dismissed the appeal.
(391)
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