VIGILANCE MANUAL VOLUME III - AP Online

794 DECISION - 407
departmental exoneration by the disciplinary authority is also not
relevant. What is necessary and material is whether the facts
collected during investigation would constitute the offence for which
the sanction has been sought for.
(407)
(A) Departmental action — delay in
(B) Suspension — court jurisdiction
Setting aside order of suspension and departmental
inquiry and quashing the charge on ground of delay
in initiation of disciplinary proceedings in a case of
embezzlement, by the Administrative Tribunal is
grossest error in exercise of judicial review, where
the Government servant was placed under
suspension and disciplinary proceedings and court
prosecution were pending.
Secretary to Government, Prohibition and Excise department
vs. L. Srinivasan,
1996 (2) SLR SC 291
The respondent while working as Assistant Section Officer,
Home, Prohibition and Excise department was placed under
suspension and disciplinary proceedings were initiated and criminal
prosecution launched for embezzlement and fabrication of false
records etc. The Tamilnadu Administrative Tribunal, Madras set aside
the order of suspension and departmental enquiry and quashed the
charges on the ground of delay in initiation of disciplinary proceedings.
The Supreme Court observed that in the nature of the
charges, it would take a long time to detect embezzlement and
fabrication of false records and that “Administrative Tribunal has
committed grossest error in its exercise of the judicial review. The
member of the Administrative Tribunal appears to have no knowledge
of jurisprudence of the service law and exercised power as if he is an